She Had the Perfect Life
by Lavinia Lavender
Summary: A biography of Lily's life, starting from when she's about five months old, until a few days after she dies; an AU, in the sense that Lily has three sisters and James a twin brother. I know it's a long, nightmare story, but I persevere to the end.
1. Book One: The Way Things Came To Be

This spring will be the third anniversary of this story. Great. I love it, I truly do, but its nickname as "nightmare-story" is pretty much settled. But I have a year and a half of high school left, and I realized recently I really don't want to carry this into college. So…perhaps I will be pushed by necessity into writing faster. And bug me if I haven't updated in two months.

Just to make it clear: I began writing this when I was only thirteen – the style and wording is not as good as I write now. I now consider this to be just one big, giant practice story. On the other hand, corrections in grammar and punctuation are very welcome. I went through hell trying to get this loaded – had to go through it, correcting paragraphs six or seven times. I believe I got the majority of the typos, but please, if you see any others, tell me. Praise and criticism amuse me alike.

For anyone who's curious: I'm seventeen.

**Disclaimer:** The essence of the story – all background information – comes from Ms. Rowling's brilliant mind. Rose, David, and other miscellaneous minor characters come from my own not-so-brilliant mind. Some happenings that sound suspiciously familiar (i.e. love potions) come from the movie _Practical Magic_, and also the characters Anetka and Mary come from the book _A Coal Miner's Bride_ of the _Dear America_ series, though I've developed their character in my own way, of course.

**Book One - The Way Things Came To Be**

_**Part One**_

It all began – or ended – one September night. A woman lay in incredible pain on a bed. Her husband, who was very pale, stood beside her, holding her hand tightly. She would wince and jerk with each contraction. The doctor leaning over her shook his head. It was near hopeless, he knew - the woman was not strong. It was a strange case, already – four months into her second pregnancy, another embryo had been detected in the womb, and had continued to grow while the first child matured and was born. Now it was the younger child's turn. She had had problems in labor before, with both of her two daughters – who, incidentally, were in the next room – and he feared that this one would finish her off. But the baby – it had a chance.

The woman refused to cry out – she didn't want to frighten her other children. At intervals she would give a little whimper – and that was it. Her husband could not have spoken if he had tried.

In the next room, a one-year-old and a five-month-old were sitting in their cots. They could both sense something was very wrong (all small children can, you know), but they did not know what. The elder finally began to vent her uneasiness by poking her younger sister through the bars of their cots – continually. But the baby ignored her sister, as she was to do all through her childhood years.

Three hours later – too much later, the doctor knew – a thin wail cut through the air. The suffering woman's body finally collapsed in exhaustion and a degree of peace. The doctor performed the necessary procedures, and at long last a tiny, baby girl lay in her mother's arms. The father sank to his knees – not entirely voluntarily. The mother, gazing at her third child, recovered for an instant the strength that was leaving her so rapidly. She glanced at her husband to make sure he was paying attention – how could he not have been?

"Rose Maria," Mary Williams whispered. William Williams nodded, comprehending. Looking at her daughter again, she understood, in the strange way dying people do, that she would not be there to watch her grow. "William." He immediately looked up at her, alarmed at her weak tone. She slowly took his hand. "Take care of her."

"I wi-" he broke off, staring at her as the realization of what she meant hit him. "We – we both will!" he cried, willing her to agree with him. Slowly, painfully, Mary shook her head.

"No, William. Take care of her – of all three of them. Find someone who loves them as much as I do." As slow tears slid down his face, she took her hand from his hand and put it on his shoulder. "Please, William. Promise me."

"I – I promise," he choked out. The reality of what was happening before his eyes stunned him. He slowly gathered his daughter - Rose Maria Williams – into his arms. "I love you," he whispered.

She smiled. "I love you, too." And with those words, Mary Williams closed her eyes and breathed her last.

Later; little, motherless Rose was placed in the cot beside the younger baby. The five-month-old reached out a tiny, inquisitive hand to the infant's cheek.

So the scene closes – for now. But one more unknown remains here - what are the names of Rose's sisters?

The one-year-old's name is Petunia Marianna Williams.

And the five-month-old's name is Lily Marie Williams.

The next few weeks for William were nearly unbearable. The only thing he was really conscious of was his last promise to Mary – to find a loving mother for his girls. And in the end, he succeeded. He found a young couple – if he had been fully conscious of the world, perhaps he might have noticed they were a bit strange – that got the same light in their eyes when they looked at Petunia, Lily, and Rose that he and Mary had. The girl, actually, was expecting herself in January. Their names were Anetka and Nicki Evans.

So after several long talks with both of them, William was convinced that they loved his daughters as much as they would have done if they had been their own.

The adoption papers were finally signed, and William was able to finally able to go home and ponder over what he had done.

He hadn't wanted to give them up at first, but he had quickly realized that without Mary beside him, he could never be the kind of father his daughters deserved. He doubted that any of them – with the exception of Petunia – would remember their biological parents. But they wouldn't need to; they now had a very fine substitute. And so William Williams disappears – forever? – from the scene.

Anetka and Nicki were indeed a witch and a wizard, and they had many long, private talks trying to decide whether or not to adopt these supposedly Muggle girls. But in the end they didn't have a choice – they had to give them a home.

And so Petunia, Lily, and Rose – once Williams, now Evans – moved in. At first, they cried for their parents, but soon - Lily and Rose first - they accepted Anetka and Nicki as their mother and father.

Now Anetka was a bit different from ordinary witches – she had special powers, powers that had been in her family for generations, since the Middle Ages. It was called Practical Magic. Nothing really different – just gifts that didn't require a wand, and rules that were followed very precisely. She could move things with her eyes, or light a candle by blowing on it, and so on. And every generation in her family there would be two girls – a brunette and a redhead. Only one of them would get married, and she, in her turn, would have two girls. And the sisters would be very close to each other, and the older would always care for the younger. It was tradition. So far no Practical Magic witch had attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

So when Anetka adopted three baby girls, she was a bit uncertain, being very well versed in the laws of her own family's magic. One of the first things she noticed was that Petunia had dark hair, Lily had bright red hair, and Rose had a lighter, softer red that curled all over her head. Anetka wondered if it was just coincidence, or if there was something more meaningful behind it.

One day, soon after the adoption, Anetka was flipping through her book that held all the rules, laws, formulas for potions, and histories of former Practical Magic witches, when she came across a blank page near the end of the book. Or what she had thought was a blank page. There was a message at the top:

_Anetka- _

_Don't worry about your daughters. You have been chosen by Practical Magic to do something very special – bring up four girls instead of two, and only three of them will be witches. The child you now carry will be your fourth and last, and don't hesitate to send them to Hogwarts – but also teach them about Practical Magic. Everything is arranged. _

_-PM _

Anetka stared at the message for several minutes in disbelief. She wasn't sure _what_ to do. The fact that Practical Magic had written to her was incredible. Then a cry interrupted her thoughts. She jerked her head up and hurried into the nursery. Rose was wailing about the unfairness of it all from her nest of blankets, and a guilty-looking Petunia was sitting beside her.

"Petunia, what did you do now?" Anetka asked in despair as she awkwardly leaned over and picked up Rose. Her own unborn child gave a protesting kick that made its mother catch her breath. Even at six months, her baby was strong.

"I do nothing! I not do it!" cried Petunia, unashamed of her blatant lies.

Anetka shook her head and continued to walk around the room with Rose, singing a lullaby comfortingly to her.

Gradually, Rose's sobs hushed and were reduced to mere hiccups. Anetka studied her. Yes, she was all right now. Her great green eyes were missing the tears that just a short time ago had filled them. Anetka decided it would not be wise to put her back in the same area as Petunia, so instead carried her back to the kitchen. On the table was a cradle that contained Lily. The baby was awake and appeared ill at ease. The cradle was a style that was designed to hold two babies. Nicki had bought it as soon as it had become apparent how much Lily and Rose needed each other. Indeed, they refused to go to sleep unless the other was beside her.

So Anetka gently laid Rose down next to Lily. At once a smile broke across Lily's face, and she eagerly reached for "Roe".

Sitting down, Anetka thought about how different her girls were – for already she and Nicki thought of them as "theirs".

Petunia was the pushy, provoking one – sometimes it seemed to Anetka and Nicki that Petunia was trying to find out how many ways she could make her younger sisters cry. It took her quite a while to make Lily wail – she had to get pretty ingenious sometimes. With Rose it was a bit easier – perhaps because of her fragile state.

Lily was a really good girl – sweet and quiet. She was the one who could sit still the longest, and was the neatest at meals. But she was becoming very protective of Rose from Petunia's mischief. Nicki often said that Lily was going to break some man's heart someday – not intentionally, of course. But even at five, nearly six months, you could tell that Lily would be very attractive.

Rose – you couldn't tell quite yet. But as the weeks went by, more and more characteristics developed about her. For one, she really did idolize her older sister, Lily, and she began to want to do more and more things for her.

January arrived, and it brought along a fourth baby girl – Mary Evans, named after Petunia, Lily, and Rose's biological mother. A brunette with flashing brown eyes, her parents knew she was a fighter from the start.

Petunia held no mercy for the newcomer, and Lily was forced to go on the defense full time. But Mary was hurt anyway by Petunia's constant accusations that Mary was no "real sister". Lily spent her time arguing with her older sibling or comforting her youngest one. And so Lily gained another worshipper.

Mary's birth was the test for Anetka and Nicki's degree of love for Petunia, Lily, and Rose, and they passed with flying colors. They made no distinction between the four.

So the months passed. Lily reached her first birthday second of May, and Petunia met her second on seventh of August, followed by Rose's first on the ninth of September.

The months flew by. For Anetka and Nicki, it was wonderful seeing Lily's, Rose's, and Mary's first step and (for the two younger girls) word. Petunia did indeed forget her true parents, and soon adapted to life as an Evans. It soon became apparent that Lily and Rose were indeed witches (from pure curiosity with Nicki's wand) and Anetka quickly drilled into their minds the principles of Practical Magic. With Petunia, however, it was hopeless. She refused to even take responsibility for her sisters' welfare. In the end, Anetka resigned defeat and transferred that responsibility to Lily, who accepted it solemnly.

As Lily, Rose, and Mary continued to mature and develop the basics of Practical Magic (i.e. pouring their cereal without touching the box), Petunia began to feel more and more left out. Lily noticed and tried to make it easier by encouraging Rose and Mary to not do much magic in front of her – she herself made a wholehearted effort. But it was in vain in a household run by magic. Petunia's feeling of exclusion soon turned to resentment.

Anetka and Nicki believed in knowledge of every kind, so when the girls became old enough, they were sent to Muggle nursery and primary school – Petunia first, then Lily and Rose together, and at last Mary. Petunia, having finally discovered a "normal" (as she had begun to term the Muggle world) atmosphere, actually lessened her tormenting of her sisters. All four proved to be extremely bright, and everyone was happy.

At last Mary had started primary school, and the girls became even more serious about their studies.

Although it had only been a few weeks after the adoption when finally even Petunia began to call Anetka and Nicki Mummy and Daddy, one of the promises the couple had made to Mr. Williams was that when Petunia, Lily, and Rose were old enough, they were to be told that they had not been born into the Evans family. So when Rose reached her sixth birthday, Anetka sat all three down for a talk. They explained to them about their real parents, but how they still loved them as much as they did Mary. All took it pretty well, and Petunia was secretly relieved, taking comfort from then on that she was not a "true" Evans daughter. Then Nicki informed them that they had a choice – they could either continue calling them Mummy and Daddy, or they could just address them as Anetka and Nicki. All three chose the latter, even though all it really meant was a change in pronunciation. Mary, in her usual way of copying Lily, and perhaps a little awkward at being the only one in the house that used the words Mummy and Daddy, soon switched over as well. Anetka and Nicki didn't have a problem with this – they were desperate for Mary to have a sense of belonging after Petunia's harassment over Mary's blood relations.

One day, when the Evanses went to the park, Lily, Rose, and Mary walked over to the miniature lake, while Petunia swung slowly in a swing looking at a picture book, and Anetka and Nicki sat on a nearby bench, talking and keeping one eye on their girls. Soon they spotted an ice cream kiosk, and Nicki took everyone's order. He and Anetka walked away to get it – they needed four hands to carry all of them.

Lily, Rose, and Mary had each taken their shoes off and were dangling their feet in the still water. Lily was sitting between Rose and Mary, and they were leaning against Lily's shoulders. Suddenly, both Lily and Rose felt a tug on each of their pigtails.

"Carrot top! Carrot top!" A voice taunted them.

The three girls whirled around. Two dirty, insecure boys, apparently a few years older than Lily, stood behind them. Once again they chanted, "Carrot top! Carrot top!" Rose and Mary shrank against their older sister's side with dark, frightened eyes.

Lily, however, only turned back around with a soft whisper. "Don't listen."

Rose and Mary obediently turned around, though they took a firmer grip on their sister's hand.

"Awww, what is it? Are the little girls afraid to talk to strangers?" the dirtier boy teased. Lily decided it was too noisy in this part of the park, and it was time to leave. Silently she stood up and reached for their shoes. Rose, in her usual way, was faster, and snatched up all three pairs. Mary clambered to her feet last of all, and with Rose and Mary still clasping Lily's hand as though it were their last hope of salvation, they started to walk away.

An insecure boy is a very interesting thing. He is prone to attack the weak and helpless – or at least things less weak and helpless than him – in an effort to make his own world more safe and secure. Of course, it really does no such thing, but all insecure boys seem to hold dearly to this false image.

"Hey, wait, little girls!" this incredibly insecure boy shouted. "We're not done!" And with those words, he picked up a rock and threw it at them. It hit Lily squarely on the shoulder. She stopped and stiffened, and, unlike most seven-year-olds, did not burst into tears. She understood that crying would not stop the pain – if anything it would it would simply be rewarded with another rock.

Lily, with this brief stop to collect her thoughts, would have continued on her way, if it had not been for Mary.

Rose, when she saw the injury, and the small drop of blood that appeared on Lily's sundress, let out a small cry with the exclamation "Lily!" Mary, however, didn't say anything, only stopped, grew very white, and stared. Only one thought went through her mind: _He hurt Lily. He hurt Lily. HE HURT LILY!_ He, the ignorant boy, hurt the girl who had protected her since before she could remember. Therefore, what happened next was entirely understandable.

Mary released Lily's hand, and flew like a mother tigress defending her young (to say she was like a mother cat would have been an understatement) at the offending insecure boy. He was so surprised at her rush that he didn't move, and was thus knocked to the ground. Mary was on top of him in a second, shrieking her outrages as she beat the boy's face with her tiny, five-year-old fist. The boy's comrade stood there in shock, watching as this young whirlwind descended upon his friend, then began to creep away, as though he had formed some thoughts that he could escape unnoticed. Lily and Rose watched in shock for a second or two, and then ran to their enraged sister.

"Mary! Mary!" Lily cried, she and Rose doing their best to pull Mary off the now screaming and crying boy.

Meanwhile, Nicki and Anetka were on their way back from the ice cream booth. They first caught sight of Petunia, who was still swinging slowly back and forth, gazing at the book, oblivious of the circumstances afflicting her three younger sisters. Anetka and Nicki were not so blind, however. They stopped, dumbstruck, as they came within sight of their youngest daughter briskly banging the head of a boy nearly twice her age against the ground, and their two middle daughters trying to pull her off him. Nicki was the first to react.

"What on..." he gasped, then shoving the two ice cream bars he was carrying (Rose always got what Lily did – so did Mary, come to think of it) into Anetka's overloaded hands, started running to his daughters.

With difficulty he pried the young warrior off the boy, who, finally freed of his oppressor, fled, sobbing. It took Mary a minute or two to realize there was no one to punish, and only then did she finally stop struggling. Nicki set her down, just as Anetka came running up, minus Petunia's ice cream.

"What happened?" she cried.

Lily caught hold of Nicki's arm.

"Please don't be mad, Nicki," she implored.

Nicki had never been able to resist any of his daughters' green eyes.

"I'm not, sweetie," he told her. "Just tell Anetka and me what happened." Lily burst into explanation. As she talked, the rage slowly left Mary's eyes.

When Lily reached the part about the rock, Anetka let out a cry, similar to Rose's, and hurried to inspect Lily's shoulder. Even though Lily tried to make nothing of it, saying she didn't even feel it anymore, Anetka and Nicki said that it was time to go home, despite Petunia's wailing. On the way to the car Lily finished her narrative. By now Mary had begun to be a bit edgy concerning her future, and Petunia was staring at Mary, a bit nervously.

Anetka assured Mary that it was all right, it was a provoked attack – and then Mary asked Nicki something that had occurred to her after the fight.

"Nicki," she asked. "Will you teach me how to fight?"

He stared at his small girl in surprise - to him, she was still a baby, a toddler still learning her ABC's (and that had really not been all that long ago).

"What for, sweetie?" he asked, lifting her up onto his lap.

"To protect Lily," said the five-year-old seriously.

Nicki fought down a laugh and a smile. Mary's serious expression forbade it. But as he glanced down at Lily and Rose, he realized that perhaps there was a bit of sense in this request - even though they were not in danger now, there would be a day where they might need a protector.

So Nicki consented – on the condition that Mary would not use the lessons against Petunia. He told her that when she went to Hogwarts, she could learn hexes and spells to help in self-defense – but for now, she could learn the Muggle way.

Christmas came – Lily and Rose were seven. Christmas morning Anetka presented Petunia, Lily, Rose, and Mary with identical necklace boxes. Each proved to be a locket, identical except for their first initial engraved in beautiful calligraphy. Once opened, they each showed showed a three-way picture, and each locket had pictures of that girl's sisters. Even Petunia had a hard time hiding her delight with the delicate piece of jewelry. Lily, Rose, and Mary were overjoyed. It was a perfect Christmas.

Lily's eighth birthday arrived. It was a very happy day, in spite of Petunia's indifference.

That night Lily, Rose, and Mary went outside to the greenhouse.

"What are you doing, Lily?" Mary asked, stroking her black cat that she was carrying.

Lily had taken a large bowl under her arm. "Making a love potion," she answered. "Practical Magic," she added, pointing to the large book open to love potions.

"Can I make one too?" asked Rose. Lily smiled.

"Of course," she assented. Rose picked up a duplicate bowl. Mary silently took one also.

One makes a Practical Magic love potion by taking petals and naming the characteristics of the boy she wants to marry.

Lily slowly, thoughtfully picked a petal from an azalea. "He'll be able to fly a broomstick perfectly," she whispered. Taking another petal, she continued, "He will be very clever." A petal of a rose, accompanied with-"He will love me completely, and never dream of doing anything against me." She continued to select petals, asking for black hair and eyes, and little other things like that. She finished soon, and stepped back for Rose's turn.

Rose hesitated, and then stepped forward. "He – he'll be the twin brother of Lily's lover." A petal from the same azalea that Lily used. "He will be identical to his brother in almost every way," she said carefully. She continued, using basically every characteristic Lily had, with a few of her own additions. Lily smiled.

When Rose first began, Mary, in a whisper so soft that neither of her sisters heard, started her own potion.

She was the most devoted Practical Magic witch out of the three of them. She was the one who had practically memorized the rules and histories of all the most famous Practical Magic witches. She knew very well the rules of love potions.

It was customary for the husband to die before his Practical Magic wife and for him to look quite different from her. It was a _rule_ that Practical Magic witches forget about their love potions until after they were married, and for them to not recognize the man they made the potion for.

Mary's heart was pounding in her ears. She was completely terrified with what she was about to do, but do it she must. She had to. She must ensure it.

With a trembling hand, she reached for the first petal.

"He'll be Lily's lover's best friend. He'll be very clever..." Mary stopped. For a moment she wasn't sure if she could continue, then she heard a part of her screaming, _You _must!_ For Lily! _ So she went on determinedly, picking flower petals as she spoke, "He will have black hair and black eyes – justlikemine." She said the last part very fast. "And – and I'll die before he will, and I'll know when I see him that he's the one I wished for. I'll also remember my potion when I see him."

She was finished. For a moment she stood there, feeling a great sense of doom upon her, terrified at what she had done - blatantly gone against every principle that Practical Magic had set down – then she turned and walked up to where Lily and Rose were waiting, their bowls under their arms.

"You did one too, Mary?" Lily asked. Mary nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

Lily looked closely at her youngest sister. She seemed a bit pale, and Lily wondered what Mary had asked for. But she decided not to ask.

The three sisters walked back inside the house with their bowls of petals, and headed upstairs to the balcony. They knew what came next. All three of them stood side by side, lifting their bowls up into the night air. A full moon shone down on them. Gently, a breeze began to blow, first stirring the petals, then lifting them up into the air. They became three separate funnels at first, swishing this way and that, as though the wind were inspecting them, then Lily and Rose's petals intertwined, through each other, again and again. Mary's petals mixed once with Lily's, shivered, and broke apart from the others.

Surprised, Lily glanced at the owner's face, whose eyes had never left her potion, and whose face only became a shade whiter at this motion of her petals. Lily then returned to her own.

The petals continued their upward journey silently, Lily's and Rose's continuing to mix, until finally they disappeared in the stars. The sisters released their bowls, guiding them back inside the greenhouse with their eyes.

After that, they went back to their room (they shared a double bed). Five minutes later the elder two were sound asleep, but Mary remained awake, thinking about what she had done.

To go purposefully and clearly against Practical Magic – it scared her. She knew how strict and powerful it was. She remembered another Practical Magic girl, Sally, her ancestor, who too had tried to work against a love potion – though she hadn't gone to the degree Mary had. Sally had only come up with as many bizarre and ludicrous characteristics as she could some up with – it hadn't worked. Practical Magic had _invented_ a man that fulfilled every requirement.

That's why she had gone against Practical Magic itself. She wanted to ensure that she would never fall in love. Why? Because to her seven-year-old mind, love was a hindrance – it would distract her from protecting Lily - which she had sworn to do. So she must never fall in love.

She wasn't sure what she had really done with that love potion – she wasn't sure what Practical Magic had done with her love potion. She only hoped that it would work, that Practical Magic would leave her alone, and just make certain she would never fall in love.

…And far away, in another city, James Potter was about to be introduced to Sirius Black.


	2. Part Two of Book One

**_Part Two_**

     It was three years later – Lily and Rose had received their Hogwarts acceptance letters (no surprise to anyone) and they, accompanied by Mary and Anetka, were walking down Diagon Alley, Mary with a wistful expression on her face.  Even though Anetka was not technically a Hogwarts graduate, she liked Diagon Alley very much, and she often got her supplies for Practical Magic potions there.  

     Anetka glanced at her wristwatch.  "Okay, girls, how about I meet you at Florean Fortescues's in an hour? I need to visit the Apothecary.  Have fun, but be sure you get all you need." The Evans daughters quickly agreed to this, and after Lily and Anetka synchronized their watches, they separated – Anetka one way, Lily, Rose, and Mary another.  

     Lily, Rose, and Mary had not gone far when they came upon a scene of sorts.  They heard the shouting first – then, as they turned the corner, they saw what was going on.  It was three against one – that was evident.  The larger side consisted of two boys, identical in every way, down to the scowls on their faces, and one other boy who seemed to be leading the argument.  He, like the evident twins, had black hair, but unlike the twins' hazel eyes, his were a dark grey.  

Their opponent had longer black hair, with glittering black eyes.  Even though he was outnumbered, he seemed to be unafraid and holding his own.  

     The boy with the grey eyes was speaking - or, more accurately, shouting - when the girls walked up.  

     "Oh you better watch it once we get into Hogwarts, Snape!" he threatened.  "You'll wish you had never met us!" 

     The threatened one gave a smirk.  "Oh, I already wish that, Black, though probably for different reasons than you're thinking of.  But I believe it's _you_ who should watch it – though if I were you – thank God I'm not – I wouldn't wait for Hogwarts to start being careful around me." 

     "That's rubbish!" exclaimed one of the duplicates.  "You can't do anything yet!" 

     "Oh?" said Snape, his black eyes glittering more than ever.  "Can't I?" He slowly pulled a wand out of his pocket and stood there, smiling evilly, rolling his wand between his thumb and first finger.  "Do you want me to disprove that?" 

The aggressive, angry look in the boy's grey eyes flickered uncertainly.  The twins looked at each other.  Black scowled, obviously more annoyed at his hesitation than his opponent.  

     "No?" inquired Snape, raising his eyebrows.  When no boy ventured a response, he said softly, "I thought not." Turning, he sauntered off, still holding his wand.  

     Meanwhile, the sisters had moved to the side of the road to watch the fight.  Lily and Rose had both studied all the characters equally, and Mary had begun to - until she saw the boy with grey eyes.  If Lily had been watching Mary at that moment, she would have been very much alarmed.  Mary's face went a deathly white, her eyes widened, and she stumbled back against the wall of Flourish and Blotts.  For a moment she felt like she was going to faint.  Her heart was pounding, and all she could think was_ It wasn't supposed to work! It wasn't supposed to happen!  _She saw a flash of herself three years ago, whispering as she plucked a flower, "I'll know when I see him that he's the one I wished for-".  And here she was now, staring at him.  "You can't beguile Practical Magic, Mary." a voice whispered in her ear.  "You should have known that."

     Mary glanced at Lily, who was watching with interest the scene before her.  _I won't fall for him, _she silently vowed.  _I won't let myself.  ___

     But now Snape was walking away, leaving Black and the two clones behind, looking like cowards, which is exactly what Snape wanted, of course.  Furious, Black kicked at the ground.  

     "Why didn't you do something?" he turned on his companions.  Lily and Rose rolled their eyes.  Mary was still recovering from her shock.  

_     "We," _corrected the clone who had not yet spoken.  "Why didn't _we_ do something.  And because we know he can kick our arses if he wanted to, that's why." As his friends glared at him, he protested, "Hey, I hate admitting it as much as you do!" 

     "Which is why we need to go to Hogwarts," his brother muttered, smacking his palm with his fist as he stared off.  "So we can actually fulfill all the threats we make." 

     "There's actually some pretty good books in Flourish and Blotts if you want some starters," called Mary helpfully.  The three boys turned to stare at the speaker.  

     "Mary!" whispered Lily, shocked – after all, they were perfect strangers.  But Rose spoke up.  

     "Hi! We, er, noticed your conversation." 

     The boys looked at each other, smiled, and then walked over to where the girls were standing.  

     "I guess it was pretty noticeable," said one clone.  He stuck out his hand.  "I'm James Potter.  That's my brother, David, and my best friend, Sirius Black." 

     "Pleased to meet you," Lily responded.  "I'm Lily Evans, and these are my two younger sisters, Rose and Mary." The said sisters smiled and said hello.  

     "Who was that boy you were arguing with?" Lily inquired.  

     "Oh - that was Severus Snape," James said, scowling again.  "You're better off not knowing him." 

_     Not knowing that side, anyway,_ Lily thought, staring down the road where Severus Snape had disappeared.  She wondered what he was really like, when he was away from his enemies and around his own friends.  Sirius's voice broke through her wondering.

     "So, are you first years too?" 

     "Lily and I are," Rose answered.  "Mary will be next year." 

     Mary nodded mutely.  David opened his mouth to say something, but a voice behind him stopped him.  

     "Hey, who are you talking to?" A boy with brown hair and brown eyes who looked about their age walked up.  He was holding a bag that announced "Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions".  

     "Oh," said David quickly.  "This is Remus Lupin, my best friend.  Remus, this is Lily, Rose, and Mary.  The redheads are first years too.  Mary still has to wait another year." 

     "Really?" said Remus, interested.  "Excited about Hogwarts?" The two smiled and nodded nervously.  

     David spoke up.  "Listen, how about we buy you three a sundae? Each." 

     Lily glanced at her sisters, and when neither of them showed any signs of dissent, she turned back to David, answering, "All right then, we'd love to." 

     The group headed back to the ice cream parlor, talking and laughing.  Rose told them about their fourth sister, and Mary ended up explaining their entire family history.  All in all it was a very good time, and after they all licked their spoons clean, the boys helped Lily and Rose buy their school supplies.  Later they visited a pet shop, and despite Sirius and James's insistence that owls were the only decent pet, Lily and Rose each bought a black cat.  

     They were walking out of Quality Quidditch Supplies (after what felt like a century or two; Sirius and Remus had to literally drag James and David away from the brooms) when Lily glanced at her watch.  

     "Oh no!" she exclaimed.  Everyone stopped and looked at her.  

     "What's wrong?" Remus asked.  

     "I promised Anetka that I would meet her at Fortescues' twenty minutes ago!" Lily wailed.  

     They  raced down the street back towards the ice cream parlor.  James and David were the fastest, and would have soon outdistanced Lily and Rose, who were weighed down with packages, not to mention frantic cats with razor-sharp claws, if they had not slowed down for them.  Sirius tried to help by relieving Rose of her living burden, but it objected, and Sirius soon regretted he had ever had the idea.  

     But they did eventually arrive at the meeting place to find Anetka eating an ice cream cone at one of the outside tables.  

     "You're late," she announced as they approached her, panting (and, in Sirius's case, bleeding).  

     "I'm so sorry!" Lily said earnestly.  "I was having so much fun, I didn't even think about the time at all." 

     "Well, that's the best excuse in the world," she said, standing up.  "And who are these criminals?" Anetka added, scrutinizing the surprised boys.  

     "She always calls all our male friends that," Rose whispered.  

     "This is Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter – no, wait, you're David – _no_, you _are _James-" -the twins were clearly enjoying seeing Lily struggle- "ahhh, well one of them is James and the other one is David Potter." 

     "Are you related?" asked Anetka innocently.  

     They talked a few minutes, and then Anetka proclaimed it time to leave.  So James, David, Sirius, and Remus accompanied them to the Leaky Cauldron.  Lily and Rose promised to try to find them on the Hogwarts Express.  Then they all said goodbye, and they parted.  

     A few months earlier Nicki had bought a house in the suburbs, and the family had subsequently moved.  Their new home wasn't as stately or as Victorian as their old one, but it was still very nice.  It finally gave Petunia something she had been longing for since Mary had been born – a room of her own.  Mary was given the option of her own four walls, but she chose to reside with her two redheaded sisters.  It was correctly assumed the latter would stay together.  They would have continued to share the same double bed (minus Petunia) except that Mary discovered from her oldest sister (who had told with great relish and without any kind of softening phrases) that the former had a tendency to kick as she slept.  She did not mention that she herself had that same tendency.  Lily and Rose were too good-natured to mention it.  So Mary insisted on moving to a single bed, and Lily and Rose were reduced to a double bed, and both beds were stationed in one room.  

      The morning of September the first found three sisters lying side by side asleep, a brunette between two redheads.  They had all been up very late last night, having invited Mary onto their mattress, and whispered together for several hours, mainly about their separation for four months, then three months, followed by two months.  Both Lily and Rose had shed tears over this prospect, and it was all Mary could do not to join them.  It was the first time since the youngest's birth that they would be apart.  

     And so, the light began to filter weakly through the curtain, slowly illuminating the room and its occupants.  Rose was the first to awaken.  Her eyes opened, and for a moment she was completely motionless as she collected her memory and thoughts.  Then she slowly sat up, careful not to disturb the sleeping girls beside her.  Her eyes brightened with excitement as they landed on two almost-packed trunks waiting against the wall.  All they wanted were the things the sisters needed that morning and during the night.  Rose cautiously slid out of bed and tiptoed across the room to the giant armoire she and Lily shared.  Noiselessly she opened the doors and removed one of the two pairs of clothes that remained – everything else was packed.  Rose silently dressed into a green tank shirt with gold glitter dots splashed across it and pure white pants with the same gold dots scattered around the ankles.  She was surveying herself in the full-length mirror on one of the doors of the armoire when Lily began to stir.  

     The next-to-oldest sister, just as quietly as her younger one had, eased off the mattress and crept across the thick carpet to Rose.  

     "What do you think?" whispered Rose, turning to face her sister.  The judge smiled.  

     "Perfect," she pronounced.  Rose, pleased, handed the other outfit to Lily, who swiftly donned another green shirt and white skirt – the same shades as Rose's.  They were matching, in a way.  

     Next Lily dutifully sat down on the stool in front of their vanity, and Rose, taking a brush, began to run it through Lily's hair.  It was a ritual of old, started when they had first learned to use a brush.  Lily had learned years ago that it was useless to object.  

     Rose was nearly done when she happened to glance in the mirror.  Lily's eyes stared, via the mirror, back into her own.  For a moment, the two sisters were motionless as they stared at their reflection.  

     They were very much alike, Lily and Rose.  They always had been.  One could mistake them for twins, if Rose weren't a few inches taller than Lily, despite Lily's seniority.  The only other difference was the shade of their hair.  Lily's was a dark auburn, thick and full, falling a few inches short of her elbow.  Rose's was much lighter, a soft red, thin and curling near at the ends her hips.  Other than that, their features were equivalent.  They both had the same shade of bright green eyes, the same small nose, the same ready-to-smile mouth.  

     Behind them, Mary rolled over and slowly opened her eyes.  She was always the last to regain full consciousness.  Lily turned her head to face Mary.  Rose went back to the task at hand.  

     "Good morning," said Lily cheerfully.  Mary yawned, and sluggishly pulled her legs out from under the covers and onto the floor.  Her sisters knew it would be a few minutes for Lily's greeting to reach Mary's brain.  

     Sure enough, just as Rose was finishing plaiting the top half of Lily's hair, and fastening it with a velvet green scrunchi, she turned from her blank stare at her drawer of clothes, and responded, 

     "Oh – good morning." 

     Eventually Mary's eyes conveyed to her brain what it was seeing, and she managed to choose an outfit - a navy blue shirt and jeans.  She had just completed unplaiting, brushing, and replaiting her black hair into its usual pigtails when the door burst open and an unsightly blond mess flounced into the room.  

     "Good morning, Petunia!" Lily greeted, with the same enthusiasm she had used with Mary.  Petunia tossed her hair back and scowled at her sisters.  Even though her hair had been as dark as Mary's when she was a baby, it had lightened into blond in primary school.  

     "Oh, I'm sure it's a very good morning for _you," _the eldest sister retorted sarcastically.  "You're going to that freak school today.  I'm sure you're _very_ excited." She nodded toward her redheaded sisters.  

     "We are excited," said Lily before either of her worshippers could shoot back an answer.  "We're the first Practical Magic witches to enter Hogwarts." Mary, who was tying the shoelaces of her trainers, looked up with interest to see her oldest sister's reaction.  

     Petunia slitted her eyes.  "Well, isn't that wonderful? I'm sure you're very pleased with yourselves." Rose was beginning to get tired of the phrase, "I'm sure you're very…." But Petunia was continuing.  "Personally, I can't understand why you can't wait to leave your precious sister" -she jerked her head contemptuously toward her youngest sister- "just to learn how to change teapots into rats." 

     "Well, of course Rose and I will miss you and Mary terribly," responded Lily, putting emphasis on the "you." "But Transfiguration isn't the only subject taught at Hogwarts, Petunia.  Nicki says you also learn Charms, Potions, Herbology, Astrology, and lots of other things too." 

     "It's all the same rubbish to me!" snapped the twelve-year-old.  Mary could take it no longer.  

     "It's not _rubbish," _she said between clenched teeth.  "It's a _gift." ___

     "Mary," said Lily warningly.  That was all it took.  Mary pressed her lips together and didn't say another word.  

     "Call it whatever you want, I couldn't care less," replied Petunia, waving an indifferent hand.  "But I'm counting the days until you" -she pointed at Mary- "get out of here too.  By then I'll be settled in secondary school, and I'll have a much better chance of convincing everyone that I'm an only child.  And with you three gone, I can pretend I'm one much easier." 

     There was genuine sympathy mingled with pity in Lily's eyes as she looked at her oldest sister, and the compassion was just as real in her tone as she said quietly, "I hope it makes you happy." 

     Petunia, for once in her life, couldn't think of a sharp reply.  For a moment she stood there uncertainly, and then announced, "I'm going to get dressed." And with a slam of the door, she was gone.  

     Rose shook her head.  Lily sighed, and then stood up.  With a wave of her hand, their nightgowns folded themselves and flew, along with their brushes and mirrors, into the trunks, which promptly locked themselves.  

     "Are you sure this looks okay, Lily?" Rose questioned doubtfully, gesturing toward her hair.  She had pulled back two locks of hair on either side of her head, pinning them down with two sparkly green clips.  It was simple, but attractive – especially for Rose's hair.  

     "Terrific, Rose," Lily assured.  Mary sat on the edge of the bed, watching her older sisters with a lump in her throat, fighting the tears that threatened to spill onto her cheeks.  It was going to be a hard autumn for the ten-year-old.  

     At that moment there was a knock at the door.  

     "Come in," called Lily and Rose simultaneously.  Nicki entered cheerfully.  

     "How are my girls?" he asked, kissing all three on the top of the head.  They responded with a smile and "good morning." Nicki picked up the trunks and informed them, "Anetka's ready with breakfast." 

     Nicki at the lead, they descended down the stairs into the living room.  The father set the luggage near the door, and then joined his daughters in the kitchen.  Anetka was setting the milk jug on the table.  Everything else was ready.  

     "Where's Petunia?" the mother asked, straightening.  

     "Most likely she's still getting dressed," answered Mary truthfully.  Anetka sighed.  

     "Put a Warming Spell on her food, will you, dear?" she asked of Nicki.  He complied.  

     Five minutes later, the eldest daughter made her appearance at the table.  Without a word she grabbed her plate of toast and fell into the chair.  

     "Nice you could join us," Nicki said dryly.  Petunia scowled.  

     "It does take a while to do your hair, you know." Anetka, Lily, Rose, and Mary wondered at this statement.  All she had done was pull it into a ponytail.  

     Breakfast was a relatively silent affair.  Petunia occasionally broke it with snaps at anyone who made the slightest mess.   No one minded her, though.  

     Lily's mind was filled with thoughts of Mary, punctured with thoughts of Hogwarts.  Rose's mind was filled with thoughts of Hogwarts, punctured with thoughts of Mary.  All Mary could think of was that in a few hours she wouldn't see Lily and Rose again for four months.  

     It seemed like only a few seconds before the meal was over, and Petunia escaped to the living room, slipping on her headphones and grabbing a book.  The other three sisters went to the backyard.  

     Their tree house had been established – overnight, with the help of Nicki's wand - on Petunia's 9th Christmas, and was technically given to all four girls, even though the younger three primarily used it.  Petunia considered it beneath her.  

     But on this morning, Lily ascended the rope ladder first, followed by Rose and Mary.  Inside, there was a love seat, two chairs, a desk, and a bookshelf completely filled.  

      Lily sat down in the chair in front of the open window.  Rose restlessly fingered the spines of the books.  Mary flung herself in the love seat.  For several minutes none of them spoke.  

     Then, Lily said with a bit of a tremble in her voice, "It's only a few months.  Then we'll be back together." 

     Mary rolled over from where she was spread on the loveseat, trying to keep her attitude casual.  

     "Don't worry about me, Lily.  I'm not going to die or anything.  You two are going to have a lot of fun there.  And it's really best this way, because by the time I get there, you'll know the grounds and rules up and down, so you can show me around.  Hey," -now she propped herself up on her elbows, looking seriously at her older sisters- "don't let me being gone bother you." 

     Lily stood up, tears in her eyes.  She walked over to her youngest sister and put her arms around her.  Rose kneeled by Mary's other side, kissing her on the top of her head.  

      And that's how they were when Petunia's voice rose up to them, demanding that they come down - Nicki's order.  

     A few minutes later the entire family and Midnight and Twilight, Lily and Rose's cats, found themselves in the van, heading toward King's Cross Station.  Petunia still had her headphones and book.  Lily, Rose, and Mary sat in the back, Mary between them.  The entire trip was silent.  

     "Are you sure you have everything?" Anetka interrogated, as they walked past platforms four, five, and six.  Lily and Rose checked their purses.  All they were going to have with them during the trip were a couple of books, Midnight, Twilight, and their trunks.  

     "Yes, Anetka," Lily answered.  

      "Well," her mother said breathlessly, "this is it." She stopped three quarters of the way between platforms nine and ten.  "Isn't it?" she added uncertainly, turning to Nicki.  He nodded.  

     "Now remember," he coached, turning to his two middle daughters.  "Don't be nervous.  Thousands of students have done this before you, and I guarantee it will work for you too." They nodded.  Lily reached forward and pressed her fingertips against the wall.  Or at least tried to.  Her fingers went right through the brick as though it weren't even there.  Surprised, she pulled her hand back.  

     Petunia, apart from the others, saw the movement.  After glancing around to make sure no one was watching, she cautiously touched the wall, willing the brick to become nothing.  It was just a test, to see if she could do something her sister could.  But the brick remained brick under her Muggle fingertips.  Furious at the wall and herself, Petunia stormed away, stopping to call to Nicki, "Can I go to the van now?" 

_    "No, _Petunia," snapped Nicki.  "Say goodbye to your sisters." 

     Scowling, Petunia walked back over.  

     Lily and Rose stood awkwardly in front of the wall, not wanting to say goodbye, but knowing they had to.  Nicki helped.  

     "Remember," he said, placing a hand on each of their shoulders, "be sure to send lots of owls.  Stay out of trouble" -that was unnecessary- "and make lots of friends.  Do your homework, too." 

     "We will," whispered Lily.  Rose just nodded.  The boulder in her throat obstructed her vocal chords.  Nicki embraced them.  

     Anetka was already crying.  "My babies!" she whispered, hugging Lily and Rose tightly.  

     Nicki gave Petunia a look.  Sighing, she stepped forward.  

     "Goodbye, Petunia," Lily said quietly.  

     "Goodbye," Rose echoed.  

     "Good riddance," Petunia said sweetly.  

_     "Petunia!" ___

     "Okay, okay.  Goodbye." 

     Lily and Rose turned at last to Mary.  She was biting her lip to keep it from trembling.  Even now she wouldn't let herself cry.  Lily put her hand on Mary's cheek.  

     "Try not to let it bother you," she whispered.  

_     Impossible, _Mary thought.  

     "Four months.  That's all it is," she pleaded.  "Just a few months!" 

     Finally Mary nodded, and they hugged.  Rose and Mary hugged next.  Both were unable to speak.  

     "Goodbye!" cried Lily one last time, and they stepped through the barrier, pulling the trolley behind them.  

     Petunia was already walking away.


	3. Book Two: Friendships and Secrets

Thank you GrooveGurl, Jeaniebeanie33, and Alyssa. *winks at the last one* Hope you like this update of Lily's first year…I've decided I will be updating a year ever week or two. For any who are unfortunate enough to feel addicted to the story, you _will_ suffer when I catch up to where I'm currently writing. *coughs in the manner of a future character* Yes, well, now that you've been warned, here's your next update.

*~*

**Book Two - First Year Friendships and Secrets**

**_Part One_**

     The sight of a great scarlet train greeted Lily and Rose, puffing smoke as students and parents milled around.  They both stopped and stared.  The sisters glanced at each other, and then back at the barrier.  The realization that they were very much alone in a very different world had just hit them.  

     "Well," said Lily finally, "we might as well get our stuff on board." 

     Each carrying their trunk in one hand and cat in the other, they carefully boarded the train.  They hadn't gone far before they reached a large section where they could store their trunks.  Working together, they managed to heave both trunks onto the pile.  Then, soothing the terrified cats, the girls began their quest to find an empty compartment.  They were soon successful, and in a few minutes the redheads had established their domain.  

     The first hour went uneventfully.  Lily and Rose became deeply involved in their books; the only interruptions were by other students looking for someone.  

     Eventually Rose reached an intermission in her story, and she looked up, staring out the window as she went over the events in her book.  She glanced at her older sister, who was still buried in her own story.  

     "Lily?"-tentatively.  Lily looked up after a moment – when any one of the Evans daughters was reading, her nerve impulses were as slow as Mary's when she first woke up.  

     "Hmm?" 

     "Are we going to look for those boys we met in Diagon Alley?" 

     "Do you want to?" 

     "I'm asking _you." _

     "I'd like to.  But if you don't want to-" 

     "Oh no.  I mean, they seem nice enough." 

     "And clever enough." 

     "And funny.  A bit immature." 

     Lily laughed.  "Just a bit.  Wait one second for me to finish this one part, and then we'll search for them." 

     A few seconds later, Lily dog-eared the page and stood up, still holding Twilight.  

     "Are you taking her?" Rose asked her sister in surprise.  

     "Why not?" Lily replied.  Rose picked up Midnight.  

     As the girls left their compartment, Lily grabbed Rose's arm.  "Do you remember their names?"

     Rose froze.  "Er – the twins are James and David.  The other two have really strange names." 

     "The boy with the brown hair – the one who showed up later," said Lily slowly, "he reminds me of Rome's history...Romulus's brother – Remus!" 

     "And the other one," Rose pondered, staring at Midnight,  "oh, what was it – a star, the Dog Star – Sirius!" 

     "James, David, Remus, Sirius," recited Lily.  Satisfied, they started down the corridor, peering into the compartments, for any sign of the four boys, because from the little they knew about them, the girls were certain that the boys would not be found apart.  

     Suddenly, an explosion of laughter occurred ahead of them, from one of the compartments.  Lily and Rose stopped and looked at each other.  At the same time, a boy with violently untidy hair ducked out of the compartment and picked up something off the floor.  As he straightened, he noticed the girls.  

     "Hey!" he exclaimed, his face splitting into a grin.  "You're here!" Lily smiled back.  

     "Yeah, we couldn't exactly miss it – er, David?" 

     "James," he corrected, though he didn't seem at all perturbed by the mistake.  "Want to join us?" he added, gesturing toward the compartment.  

     "Sure!" Rose said.  

     James re-entered the compartment, calling out, "Hey, look who showed up!" 

     When Lily and Rose stepped in, they found an absolute mess.  Sweet papers were scattered across the seats and floor, and Ice Mice and Chocolate Frogs were running wild everywhere.  Remus and David were on one side, while James plopped down besides Sirius opposite them.  

     "Budge up!" he commanded.  Amid the calls of "Hi, Lily!" and "What's up, Rose?" the sisters managed to squeeze in.  Rose sat by James, and Lily was practically on Remus's lap.  The situation called for much laughter and jokes, and it was only increased when Midnight leaped from Rose's lap and began to stalk the mice.  

     "Lily," said Sirius suddenly, "can I hold your cat?" 

     Lily looked at him, and then drew back, holding Twilight protectively.  

     "No." 

     "Why not?" 

     "I don't trust you." 

     "Why? What have I done to lose your trust? You barely know me!" cried Sirius indignantly.  

     "You just don't look like someone who should be trusted with small animals!" Lily insisted.  

     Their minor argument was interrupted by the door sliding open, revealing a small, fat boy who looked like he had been crying a good bit.  He sniffed.  

     "Has anyone seen my rat?" he asked pathetically.  They shook their head.  Midnight looked up, a mouse in her mouth.  

     "Well," David amended, "we did have a lot of mice.  But no rats." 

     "We could have had a rat come in," said Sirius brightly.  "If it did, it's probably being digested right about now." 

     The boy's eyes widened.  

     "Sirius!" Rose hissed, poking him.  

     "Are you talking about this rat?" a voice drawled behind the ratless boy.  The latter spun around.  

     Severus Snape stood there, smirking.  In one hand he held a shrieking rat by the tail.  As they watched, he began to spin it in little circles.  

     "Put it down, Snape," Sirius said, standing.  

     "I don't think so," replied Snape, his smile widening.  He turned back to his captive's owner.  "When it first ran into my compartment I decided to kill it and throw it out the window.  But when I found out it was yours, Pettigrew, I realised it didn't deserve such an easy death." 

     "Please give it back!" Pettigrew pleaded weakly.  "Please!" 

     "Get a life, Snape!" said David angrily.  "If all you have to do all day is taunt kids smaller than you, you need one." 

     "Want to run that by me again, Potter?" Snape said, his eyes narrowing.  

     Lily bit her lip.  This was getting out of hand, and all over a rat! They weren't even at school yet, and she was sure someone was going to get hurt – or worse, in trouble.  

     She sought a way to peacefully end it.  Her eyes locked on the rat.  He wasn't holding it very tightly, she realised.  Her eyes narrowed.  

     All at once the rat flew from Snape's fingertips and into the compartment.  Rose snatched Midnight up.  

     Snape started in surprise, but he quickly tried to cover it up.  "Who did that?" he demanded.  

     Lily's mouth opened to answer, but James, who had seen her eyes concentrate, was quicker.  

     "I did," he said evenly.  

     "Where's your wand?" Snape asked icily.  

     "Up your bum and around the corner," James shot back – it was the first thing that came to his mind.  _"Goodbye." _And he pulled the boy called Pettigrew inside the compartment - much to the dismay of its many occupants – and slammed the door shut.  

     "All right," gasped Remus, "this is crowded." 

     Pettigrew was looking at James with something close to worship in his eyes.  

     "Thanks!" he cried.  "You were incredible!" 

     James gave him a startled look.  "It was nothing," he assured him.  "What's your name, anyway?" 

     "P-Peter Pettigrew." 

     James introduced everyone.  

     "Wonderful," Sirius called from beneath Remus.  "Now we know everyone's name.  Can we please work on giving everyone some room to breathe in?" 

     "It is a bit crowded," agreed Rose in a muffled voice - David's back was against her face.  

     "A bit!" shrieked Sirius – the only part of him visible was his foot protruding from underneath Lily's arm.  "Understatement of the year." 

     "Regardless, Rose is right," Lily announced.  "We'll leave." 

     "No," David said, casting his mind for a polite way to tell Peter to get out.  "Er-" 

     "No, it's okay," Lily said, disentangling herself from the bodies and then helping her sister out.  "We need to change anyway.  And so do you." 

     "See you at the Sorting," Remus called.  

     Sure enough, Lily and Rose had barely finished switching into their school robes when a bodiless voice called out, "Five minutes until we reach Hogwarts.  Please leave your luggage in the train.  It will be taken separately to the castle." The sisters were very excited now: soon they would be reaching their new home for the majority of the next seven years.  

     Someone knocked on the door.  

     "Come in," Lily called.  James opened the door -  the girls only knew he wasn't David because of his nametag.  

     "My dad said that in the boats we ride to Hogwarts they only take four people.  David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter are going in one boat, so can I go with you two?" 

_     That's odd,_ Lily thought.  _They just met Peter.  Why is he taking James's place? ___

     "Sure," Rose said.  

     "James, do you know if we take our cats?" Lily inquired, gesturing toward Midnight and Twilight, who were asleep on the seat.  James grinned.  

     "No, but you can take your bags if you want to." 

     Outside, it was just beginning to get dark.  They were all surprised to see a giant figure standing in front of a row of boats on the edge of an immense lake.  

     "Firs' years o'er here! Four ter a boat!" the giant bellowed.  James guided the girls to a boat.  After all the boats were filled, they rapidly started across the lake.  Lily turned to James.  

     "Why didn't you ride with the other boys?" 

     "I wanted to ask you something, Lily." 

     "What?" she inquired, curious.  

     "When we were talking to Snape," he began, "I saw you staring at Peter's rat right before it flew out of his hand.  Your eyes - I mean, they were concentrating on it, and they flashed, right as the rat escaped.  Did you do that?" 

     "Er – yes," Lily admitted.  

     "How? You didn't have a wand," he pointed out.  

     "Practical Magic," Rose answered.  "It's a brand of magic that goes back centuries.  We don't need wands to move things.  All we need are our eyes, and sometimes not even that." 

     "Hey!" The shout came from another boat.  Turning, James, Lily, and Rose saw Sirius standing up in the boat next to them.  Behind him, David, Remus, and Peter were sitting down.  Sirius took out his wand and tapped the boat.  It promptly rammed James's boat.  Lily and Rose grabbed the side.  James quickly pulled out his own wand and returned the favour.  As Sirius raised his wand again, Lily called, 

     "Don't, boys.  Someone's going to fall out." 

     "So?" Sirius retorted.  "I heard there's a giant squid that lives in the lake.  Mermaids, too." 

     "You'd like that, wouldn't you, Sirius?" James shouted back.  Lily shook her head, smiling.  

     "Look!" shouted Rose, pointing ahead of them.  A tentacle was curled above the water, faintly resembling a question mark.  Remus, David, and Peter leapt to their feet and rushed to the side.  As they stared, it slowly disappeared under the surface.  

     "What did I tell you?" shouted Sirius gleefully.  

     A few minutes later, the boats pulled up in front of a huge, magnificent castle.  Everyone fell quiet, staring up at their new home.  

     "Oh, wow," Rose finally whispered.  They silently disembarked from the boats.  Lily, Rose, and James quickly walked over to where Sirius, David, Remus, and Peter were standing.  Peter took a step backward and gulped.  

     The door opened and a formidable-looking witch who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall explained to them about the four Houses and the Sorting Ceremony, which they were about to undertake.  Then she led them into a chamber, instructing them to wait here and tidy up (staring pointedly at James and David's hair).  

     After a few minutes of very nervous whispering (James and David weren't very worried – their entire family had been Gryffindors.  Lily and Rose were, however.  Their Practical Magic background had them extremely anxious.), Professor McGonagall reappeared, beckoning them to follow her.  She led them to a gigantic room with four tables side by side, and one long one in front of them all.  Floating candles lit the entire hall.  

     Remus nudged the girls.  "Look," he whispered quietly, pointing up.  They obeyed, and their mouths fell open.  There didn't seem to be a ceiling - the black sky stretched from wall to wall, stars just now beginning to dot the darkness.  It was incredible.  

     But now Professor McGonagall was placing an old, threadbare, beaten hat on a stool.  She stepped back, and after a moment the hat broke into song, explaining each of the four houses.  When it was done, everyone applauded, and the Professor announced, 

     "When I call your name, come and sit on the stool and put on the hat." She unrolled a large parchment.  "Black, Sirius!" 

     "Good luck!" whispered  all his friends as he determinedly went forward.  He set on the hat, but it promptly slipped over his eyes.  There was a three-second pause, then- 

     "GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius climbed off the stool, replaced the hat, and walked over to the table that cheered the loudest.  

     "Cover, Abigail!" 

     "SLYTHERIN!" 

     "Evans, Lily!" Her heart began to beat very fast.  

     "You have to be in Gryffindor, you don't fit in any other!" whispered Rose reassuringly.  Distantly hearing her other friends' encouraging words, Lily walked toward the hat.  Like it had for Sirius and Abigail, the hat went over her eyes.  

     "Let's see here," a voice whispered in her ear.  Lily started.  "You're definitely bright enough for Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, and you have a good sense of humour, along with a tolerance of people who pull pranks – which would make you a GRYFFINDOR!" Weak with relief, and hardly able to believe the test she had been dreading so much was over, Lily slid off the stool and joined Sirius at the Gryffindor table.  

     "I knew it!" he exclaimed as she fell into the seat next to him.  "You couldn't be in any other house!" 

     "Shhh! It's Rose's turn!" 

     Indeed, "Evans, Rose" was walking up to the Sorting Hat.  Her heart was pounding as her sister's had.  _What if I don't get into Gryffindor? _she thought wildly.  The thought of being in any other house – even Ravenclaw – without Lily was unbearable.  With sweaty hands she placed the hat over her head.  

     "Well, you are a lot like your sister, aren't you? So much that I'll put you in GRYFFINDOR!" Speechless, Rose returned the hat to the stool and made her way to Lily's side.  

     "You shouldn't have worried about it," said Sirius cheerfully.  "You and Lil have-" 

     Lily interrupted him.  "Lil?" 

     "It's either that or Lie, Lee, Lie-lie, Lee-lee-" 

     "Lil," said the nicknamed quickly.  "Please." 

     "Look!" exclaimed Rose.  "Remus is up!" 

     The boy was the calmest they had seen yet.  He put on the hat and waited.  

     "GRYFFINDOR!" 

     Sirius, Lily, and Rose clapped the loudest.  Remus sat across from Lily.  His cheeks were a bit flushed.  

     "So far so good," he sighed.  "Only James and David left." 

     "I really hope they get in Gryffindor," Rose said.  

     "They will be," said Sirius faithfully.  

     "Peter's next," Lily observed.  

     "Pettigrew, Peter!" 

     After a surprising number of trips for such a short distance, Peter made it to the stool.  Ten minutes later, he was still there.  

     "Personally," said Sirius in a low voice, "I hope he doesn't get into Gryffindor.  After you two left" -he motioned toward Lily and Rose- "all he did was stare at us as though we had wings growing out of our ears." 

     Lily muffled a laugh, just as the hat finally announced, "GRYFFINDOR!" Peter breathlessly took a seat on the other side of Remus.  As he opened his mouth to speak, Sirius cried, 

     "James's turn!" 

     "Potter, James!" The hat had scarcely touched his head before- 

     "GRYFFINDOR!" 

     James shook hands with Sirius as he sat down.  

     "Potter, David!" Instantly- 

     "GRYFFINDOR!" 

     David took his seat next to Remus.  

     "I can't believe it!" Lily exclaimed.  "We all made it!" 

     "Barely," said James, throwing Peter a grin.  Peter's cheeks grew scarlet.  

     "I don't get it," Rose said, quickly changing the subject.  "Why did you go before David, James? D goes before J." 

     "Because," he said, now giving David a very evil grin, _"I _am six seconds older." James announced it with a very grand air, as though this made him special.  

     "And he'll never let me forgot it, either," the younger added, scowling.  

     But Lily wasn't listening.  She was still watching the Sorting, waiting for someone whom she knew would be up soon.  And he was.  

     "Snape, Severus!" 

    He stepped forward, his sallow skin gleaming in the candlelight.  The six friends fell silent.  

     "Five Sickles he's in Slytherin, James," said Sirius suddenly.  

     "I don't think so, Sirius," his best friend replied.  "We've known that ever since we first saw him." Just as he finished speaking, the hat shouted, 

     "SLYTHERIN!" 

     The boys and Rose went back to their conversation.  Lily, however, continued to watch the boy as he took his seat at the Slytherin table.  

_     What is he really like? _Lily wondered again.  She was clever enough to know that everyone had two sides, and so far she had only seen one.  She examined his expression closer.  Was he happy or disappointed about his placement? But his face was as masked as if he had had his back to her.  

     Suddenly, he looked up – straight at her.  Startled, she looked away, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks.  But James had noticed where she had been staring.  

     "You know," he said quietly, leaning in front of Sirius, "I wouldn't let Snape find out you're technically a Muggle-born if I were you.  As a general rule, Slytherins don't like them much."

      Lily nodded.  

      Dumbledore stood up and began to speak.  

     "Another year has arrived, and we have a new batch of students to stuff with knowledge.  

     "But I must inform you that a new tree has joined our grounds over the summer.  Its name is the Whomping Willow, and I do not advise anyone to find out why it was so named.  

     "Other than that, the usual reminders: no one is to enter the Forbidden Forest, and please be considerate of Mr. Filch – he would appreciate it if you did not make any sort of mess whatsoever.  

     "And now, what you've all wanted to hear – Bon appetit." 

     And all at once the dishes and bowls were full with every kind of food.  Hungry, the friends dug in.  

     After everyone had finished, the food faded away, and was replaced by ice cream of every flavour and biscuits, too.  

     Finally when no one could take another bite, that too disappeared, and Dumbledore stood again.  

     "Now that everyone is filled with food, it is time to go to bed, so you can be filled with knowledge tomorrow.  Goodnight!" 

     As everyone stood up (the first years a bit uncertainly, as they knew not where to go) a sixth year Gryffindor called out, 

     "Follow me, first years!" 

     So the Gryffindors followed the prefect through the castle.  Even though a warm bed was starting to feel very good right then, they couldn't help but have a sense of awe at the complex castle.  She led them through tapestries, onto moving staircases, and into closets that turned out not to be closets at all.  Walls became corridors at the touch of the right stone.  Sometimes the floor became transparent, other times it became a raging sea beneath their feet, even though it felt like a smooth floor.  James and Sirius swore that the bottom of their shoes were wet.  And once they went through a hallway that played different notes when you stepped on different stones.  Sirius actually managed to convince the prefect to stop so James and David could perform their version of Chopsticks.  

     But they finally did reach a large portrait of the Fat Lady, and the prefect showed them to their appropriate staircases.  

     Lily and Rose found their beds next to each other, much to their satisfaction.  Their trunks were in front of their beds, and Midnight and Twilight were curled up asleep on their pillow.  The sisters noticed there were two other beds in the room, but they were empty.  

     "They must still be downstairs," Lily reasoned.  This was probable, as many Gryffindors had decided to stay up a while longer in the common room.  

     Exhausted, the two sisters changed into their nightgowns, plaited each other's hair as they had done for years, and fell into their beds.  

     But they didn't go to sleep right away.  For a few minutes they stared up at their canopies, thinking about all that had happened that day.  Saying goodbye to Mary, talking with the boys on the Hogwarts Express, the encounter with Snape, the Sorting – it was still a shock they were both in Gryffindor! - the marvelous dinner, and the wonders of Hogwarts all flashed through their minds.  

     "Lily?" whispered Rose at last.  

     "Yes?" 

     "Can you believe it? I mean, this is going to be our home for the next seven years!" 

     "It's everything Nicki said it would be," Lily whispered.  

     "And more." 

     "And more," the elder concluded.  

     "Do you think that we'll have a good time here?" 

      In the darkness, Lily smiled.  

     "We'll make sure of it." 

     There was a long, comfortable silence.  At last- 

     "Goodnight, Lily." 

     "Goodnight, Rose." 


	4. Part Two of Book Two

**_Part Two_**

     The next morning Rose's eyes flickered open.  The first thing she saw was a tall blond with her back to her, brushing her hair in front of the huge dresser everyone shared.  It had a large mirror on top of it, and in this mirror Rose saw the blonde's face.  She had huge blue eyes and a smooth face.  The girl noticed Rose watching her in the mirror, and, with a wide smile, turned around.  

     "Good morning," she greeted.  "I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to get introduced last night, but when Nicole and I came up, you were both fast asleep.  Anyway, I'm Alice Lavonne." 

     "Rose Evans," Rose responded.  "And that's Lily, my sister." She pointed to the sleeping redhead on her left.  

     "Pleased to meet you, Rose," said Alice friendly.  "Nicole's in the bathroom – Nicole Adesanya.  We've been best friends since we were four years old." 

     "Lily and I have been best friends since the day I was born," Rose said cheerfully, swinging out of bed.  

     "Are you twins?" inquired Alice.  

     "No," Rose laughed.  "She's five months older." 

     Alice's blue eyes widened.  "Five?" 

     "Mm-hmm," said Rose calmly.  "Lily was born in May, and five months later I came.  In eight days, a matter of fact, I'll be eleven." 

     "Premature?" 

     "No.  When Lily was born, I was already in my fourth month.  Understand?" 

     Alice nodded, and sat down on the edge of Rose's bed as she tied her hair back with a blue ribbon.  

     "Now I do." 

     "Good morning." The greeting came from Lily, who had finally awoken.  She lay on her side, stroking Twilight with a semiconscious smile on her lips.  Alice quickly turned to face her.  

     "Hi.  I'm Alice Lavonne – your dormmate.  And you're Lily?" Lily nodded.  

     Right then the bathroom door swung open, and a girl with dark skin, nearly dark enough to be considered African, walked out with her hair wrapped in a towel.  

     "You're awake," she observed, pulling the towel free.  Crimpy brown hair cascaded to her shoulders.  Alice leaped to her feet.  

     "Lily, Rose," she announced, "meet my best friend, Nicole Adesanya.  Nicole, meet Lily and Rose Evans." 

     "What's up?" Nicole said, walking over to her bed beside Lily's.  

     The four girls got dressed and went downstairs.  James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were waiting for them.  Lily introduced Alice and Nicole, and the boys said hi.  But no one moved to the portrait hole.  Sirius broke the silence.  

     "Okay, so what exactly are we waiting for?" 

     "I think we're waiting for someone to show us the way to the Great Hall," James grinned.  "Anyone remember?" Everyone shook their head.  

     "Maybe we just wander the halls all day, looking for it and miss all our lessons," David suggested brightly.  

     "Or you may have to follow someone else," a new voice suggested.  It came from a fourth year walking down the boys' stairs.  "This way," he ordered, opening the portrait door.  

     The nine first years followed him as he led them down a staircase, through a tapestry, up a corridor, and found themselves standing in front of the Great Hall.  Feeling rather sheepish, they all sat down.  

     During breakfast the timetables were passed out.  Much to the boys' dismay, they would be sharing Potions with the Slytherins.  According to a seventh year, it was an evil tradition.  

     The day went by quickly.  Lily and Rose loved their lessons and learned eagerly.  The boys, despite their seeming lack of attention, did well too, with the exception of Peter.  

     Their last class before dinner was Transfiguration.  For some reason, Remus seemed ill at ease, and kept glancing at his watch.  Lily asked him several times what the matter was but he always shook his head.  The fourth time Professor McGonagall gave her a warning, and that was the end of that.  Finally, twenty minutes before the end of class, he raised his hand.  

     "You have a question, Mr. Lupin?" 

     Remus nodded, and jumped to his feet, hurrying up to her.  He whispered something urgently in her ear, and she nodded.  

     "Take your bag with you," she added.  Remus nodded again – Lily wondered if he had lost his ability to speak in normal tones – grabbed his things, and raced out of class.  

     Puzzled, Lily inquired David with her eyes.  He shrugged, bewildered.  

     When they went down for dinner (it was easier to find the Great Hall this time – just follow the crowd) Remus still wasn't back.  Nor, afterwards, was he anywhere in Gryffindor Tower.  

     "Maybe he's constipated," Sirius suggested.  

     "He is not!" said Lily, shocked.  

     "You lot, I'm starting to get worried," Rose broke in.  "He could have been hurt." 

     "Yeah," James agreed.  "Snape could have attacked him." 

     Lily stood up.  "That's it.  I'm checking the hospital wing.  Anyone coming with me?" Rose, of course, got to her feet, and so did David and James.  Sirius decided to stay and see if Remus comes back.  

     After getting directions from a second year on exactly where the hospital wing was, the four started off.  As they walked, they discussed various theories on what could have happened to their friend, each getting more and more bizarre, until finally James said that Remus could have had a Lethifold suck him up a urinator and into the lake, where the giant squid was holding him captive.  Everyone burst into laughter.  

     When they did arrive at the hospital wing (after only a few wrong turns) Madam Pomfrey told them icily that Mr. Lupin was not in there, had not been there at all that day, and they should go back to their tower if they didn't want twenty points deducted from Gryffindor.  It was only the last threat that turned them around.  

     Back in the common room, Sirius reported that there had been no sign of Remus.  The five friends fell into an uneasy silence (Alice, Nicole, and Peter had long since gone to bed).   

     Finally Rose ventured to ask, "Do you think we should tell a teacher?" 

     "No," James quickly objected.  "McGonagall let him go, remember?" 

     "And she knew he would be gone until the end of class, because she reminded him to take his books," Lily reasoned.  

     "So that rules out the possibility of him doing anything illegal," concluded Sirius.  

     "This isn't like him!" David at last cried.  "Remus doesn't run off in the middle of the night!" 

     No one said anything for several minutes.  

     At last Lily spoke.  "We aren't accomplishing anything by waiting up.  We might as well go to bed." 

     Uncertainly they all stood up, murmuring goodnights.  After a moment, they all slowly walked up their staircases.  

     Lily and Rose, after a few minutes of tossing and turning with worry, slept.  

     James, David, and Sirius, however, decided to wait in their dorm for their friend.  A half hour later, though, two of the three boys were asleep.  Alone, David paced the dorm, every now and then pausing to stare out at the grounds lit by the full moon.  

     Finally, at 11:30, David admitted defeat.  After making a mental vow to tell a teacher in the morning if Remus wasn't back by then, David crawled into bed.  

     A few hours later, he was awoken by a click.  Eyes popping open, he saw a form staggering away from the door.  Even though just the first signs of dawn were coming through the window, he recognized the figure.  David sat up.  

_     "Remus?" _

     The boy froze, then reached out to grab Sirius's bedpost, as though he were about to collapse.  David's surprise turned to anxiousness.  "What happened?" he asked, half out of bed.  

     "I'll – I'll talk to you in the morning." His voice was weak.  Remus stumbled past Sirius's bed.  

     "What? But-" 

     "Please, David." It was a plea.  David stopped, watching his best friend finally collapse on his own bed without even bothering to undress.  David slowly lay back down, his mind churning with questions.  What had happened to Remus to keep him away for nearly the entire night? And to make him come back so exhausted! He lay awake for several more minutes, until finally he fell into a restless sleep.  

     Morning arrived.  Voices slowly seeped into Remus's brain, at last making sense.  

     "Hey – he's back!" 

     "Yeah, I heard him come in last night." 

     "What did he say?" 

     "Nothing – just that he'd talk in the morning." 

     "Damn.  Looks like he had a pretty rough night, huh?" 

     "Yeah." There was a pause, where Remus began to drift off again, but the next words pulled him back.  

     "D-do you think he's going to wake up?" Peter, no doubt.  

     "Of course!" That was Sirius.   

     "In a century or two." James or David – most likely James.  But Remus was slowly – and unwillingly – being brought back into consciousness.  He forced his eyelids up – they felt like someone was pressing heavy weights on them.  

     "Hey." Someone sat down on his bed.  "All right?" David.  

     His tongue seemed to be swollen and made out of lead.  Remus tried to remember how to use it.  It came back to him in due time.  

     "Er – yeah," he said sluggishly.  

     "You don't look all right," observed Sirius.  Remus decided not to answer that.  David's voice broke though the thickening silence.  

    "So, where were you last night, Remus? You left without telling anyone.  It scared all of us.  Including Lily and Rose." At last Remus sat up.  Immediately his head began to throb.  Through the pounding, he called up the story he had concocted last night.  

     "My – my mum was ill.  A teacher stopped me in the hallway when I was going to the toilet and told me.  He said I could leave to go home during Transfiguration." 

     Silence met these words.  

     "Merlin, Remus," said David finally.  "I'm sorry.  How's your mum?" 

     "She got better as soon as I got there, and insisted I go back to school.  I couldn't even wait 'til morning," Remus mumbled.  

     "That's good," Sirius sighed.  "That your mum is better, I mean." 

     "Yeah.  But why didn't you tell us where you were going?" James questioned.  Remus's heart began to speed up.  He hadn't thought of that.  

     "I, er, was kind of worried.  I didn't think of it.  Sorry," he apologized.  It was lame, but the best he could think of.  Fortunately, his friends seemed to accept it.  Sirius stood up.  

     "Well, I understand, but I think you're going to have a harder time convincing Lily and Rose.  They were ready last night to alert the Ministry of Magic." 

     Remus forced a grin.   

     They were quiet for a moment, and then Sirius hit James lightly on the shoulder.  "C'mon, let's go and get dressed." They and Peter departed from Remus' bedside.  Only David was left.  Remus leaned back against his bedpost.  He had just realized how every fibre of his being was aching.  

     "You going to be alright?" David asked gently.  Remus nodded.  His best friend sat there for a moment more, and then returned to his own bed.  Wincing with pain, Remus started to get dressed, making a mental note to owl his mother, telling her she had been ill last night.  

     When James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter finally went downstairs, they found the common room empty except for Lily and Rose, who sat on the sofa, whispering.  When the boys first began to appear, they jumped to their feet, and Lily demanded without ceremony, 

     "Have you heard from – Remus!" Both girls rushed forward.  

     "I'm so glad to see you!" 

     "I thought you were kidnapped – where were you?" 

     "His mother took ill," David answered, unknowingly to Remus's secret relief.  "He had to go home right away, but his mum sent him back." 

     "Oh no!" cried Lily, all sympathy.  "I'm so sorry, Remus.  Your first day at Hogwarts, too.  Is she alright?" 

     "Oh – yes," muttered the boy, hating himself as he stared at the ground.  "She – she said she felt loads better right before I left." He didn't want them worrying over nothing – literally.  

     "Why didn't you tell us where you were going?" inquired Rose.  "We would have understood, you know." She put a hand on his shoulder.  He cringed inwardly.  But fortunately by this time he had modified his answer.  

     "I only found out during Transfiguration – when I was going to the toilet.  I would have written you a note, but from the little I've seen of Professor McGonagall, I decided not to risk it." That was probable, he decided.  It was the one class that Sirius, James, and David had not dared act up in.  "Sorry I made you worry." 

     "It's okay," Rose assured him.  Remus smiled weakly again.  He was starting to feel really exhausted.  Dizzy, too.  If they were going to linger any longer, he was going to sit down and go to sleep.  In fact, he might just go to sleep standing up.  But he didn't have a chance too.  The group determined to venture down alone today.  It went pretty well, too – they only got lost twice.  Remus didn't care – or notice.  

      During breakfast he took two bites of toast, put his head on his arms, and became oblivious to all around him, including the bit of egg that flew from Peter's mouth to his shoulder.  

      Lily watched him with worry.  He looked terrible for just one night.  She didn't know it could have that big of an effect on him.  It had to be from strain and lack of sleep.  Afterwards she offered to carry his bag for him, and he didn't have the energy to protest.  History of Magic was first hour, so Remus was able to completely, utterly, sleep through it.  He more or less slept through all the other classes.  

     The next day he looked much better, finally quelling the last of their worries.  

     Rose's birthday was celebrated relatively quietly.  It was a Saturday, so the four girls decided to spend it doing whatever Rose wanted to do, who, as usual, wanted to do whatever Lily wanted to do.  In the end, Lily forced Rose to have her own opinions and the girls spent the morning talking in their dorm, and the afternoon running around the grounds. 

     The days began to fall into order, becoming a routine in their life.  The first years gradually became familiar with the castle, finding their way around with much less effort.  They all became good friends with Hagrid, and spent many Saturdays talking in his hut.  

     Lily and Rose became good friends with Alice and Nicole.  Nicole reminded them in many ways of Mary, whom the sisters were missing very much.  Alice proved to be a bright, outgoing girl who already liked to try new hairstyles and experiment with make-up.  Secretly, Lily and Rose wondered how Alice and Nicole ever got to be best friends.  

     The boys were something else.  Each, even though they had first impressed the girls as being very much alike, had his own personality.  

     Sirius was undoubtedly the most aggressive.  He never thought before he acted, unless it came to answering a question in class.  He always had a comeback to every remark and never seemed to be at a loss for what to do.  He could always make Lily and Rose laugh, even when they didn't want to, and half the time he drove them out of their mind.  The last fact was true with the teachers as well.  

     James was quite like Sirius: he was clever and bold, though he thought a bit more than Sirius did before he acted, and he was the one to always pull Sirius back when, as he often did, unknowingly came to close to the line.  

     David was a very near replica of his brother, which made him a bit like Sirius, though on the quieter side, which explained his being best friends with Remus.  He had more patience than James and Sirius combined, which made him the one they sent to the library whenever they wanted something researched.  However, he was also ready to do a lot of things that weren't quite legal with his brother and Sirius.  

     Remus was undoubtedly the quietest of the four; he was more content to watch his friends' pranks than to actually participate, though occasionally David would coax him into it, and when he did, whatever they were planning to do would become better.  He knew the best where the line exactly was, and always stopped David from crossing it.  

     Peter was the follower.  He never really was one of them, just an admirer on the edge of the circle, occasionally drawn into their group.  

     One night in the beginning of October, however, Lily, Rose, James, David, and Sirius were surprised when Remus rushed up to them in the common room, gave a breathless explanation of his mother having had a relapse, and he must go and see her right away, before dashing off again through the portrait hole.  The next morning his friends awoke to find him lying half-dead on his bed.  

     When a similar occurrence happened again the first day of the next month, Lily started to really worry.  With his mother having so many relapses, she wondered if the poor woman was going to even live until the end of the school year.  And Remus came back so tired! It seemed as though he had been sick, not his mother.  

     The last thought struck Lily as so reasonable that she began to watch Remus more closely.  On the last day of November he announced his aunt was ill and he really must go see her.  Everyone accepted it without question – except Lily.  And as the following morning he barely had enough energy to move, she concluded that it couldn't possibly have been his mother/aunt.  

      Lily didn't like at all suspecting her friend, so she automatically assumed that he had a very good reason for lying to his best friends.  At the same time, Lily began to research in the library what would make a person disappear once a month and come back exhausted the next morning.  

      The answer, which she found all too quickly, didn't please her at all.  Not at all.  

      Lily hesitated in making a confrontation.  After all, she wasn't one hundred percent sure.  If she was wrong, Remus could be permanently insulted and offended.  So she decided to wait one more month and see if she was right.  Meanwhile, she would say nothing to anyone, not even Rose.  

     The blizzard that besieged the castle one night surprised them all, and the next morning Hogwarts found itself surrounded by snow.  A few days later Professor McGonagall presented a list for those who would be staying at the castle for Christmas, and not one Gryffindor first year touched it.  

     Finally the day to head home for the holidays arrived.  Lily and Rose were the first outside with their trunks.  Even though they had a marvellous time at Hogwarts, they missed their parents and Mary very much, despite the number of letters that had flown back and forth.  

     The train ride home seemed unbearably long, though the girls sought to hasten it in every form, from talking with Nicole and Alice, with whom they had become very good friends over the months, to jumping up every five minutes to check how much longer it would be.  

     Eventually – to Lily and Rose's delight – the train did slow down, and by the time it came to a complete stop in front of Platform nine and three-quarters, the two sisters were pressing against the door, their trunks and pets beside them.  

     "Mary! Mary!" they shrieked, dropping everything to embrace their youngest sister.  

     "Where are Anetka and Nicki?" Lily questioned as they broke apart.  

     "Waiting on the other side with Petunia," Mary replied.  "I couldn't stand it any longer." She tugged on their hands.  "Come on!" 

     Lily stopped her.  "Wait." She turned and waved for Alice, Nicole, James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, who were being hugged and rejoiced over by their parents, to come over.  

     "Remember Mary?" she asked of the boys.  As they nodded, smiling and greeting her, Lily continued, "Alice, Nicole, Peter, this is my youngest sister, Mary.  Mary, this is Alice Lavonne and Nicole Adesanya.  They're the roommates we wrote you about.  And this is Peter Pettigrew." 

     "Hi," Alice said, giving her winning smile.  "Nice to meet you.  Are you going to Hogwarts next year?" Mary nodded.  

     "Cool.  Next year all of us can show you around," Nicole suggested.  She grinned.  "Then you won't have to get lost like we did." 

     "You mean still do," James corrected.  

     Rose interrupted.  "Come meet our parents and Petunia," she invited.  All of them had heard a lot of Lily and Rose's family, so after collecting their trunks and Midnight and Twilight, who, like all magical cats, had not run off, they filed through the barrier.  Lily and Rose greeted Anetka and Nicki, then introduced their friends.  

     "Where's Petunia?" Lily inquired, glancing around.  Nicki sighed.  

     "She said it was too cold, so she went to wait in the minivan." As he spoke, snow started to spiral down.  

     "Lily, Rose, we have to leave soon, but come meet our parents," James urged.  The sisters – and Mary, at David's motion – followed the twins to a couple who had come through the barrier with them.  

     "Mum, Dad, meet Lily and Rose, the girls I told you about, and their sister, Mary.  Girls, our parents," David introduced.  Lily gave her most brilliant smile.  

     "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Potter," she said, she and Rose shaking their hands.  

     "Likewise, my dear.  James and David wrote a lot about you," Mr. Potter said warmly.  

"Perhaps you could visit sometime," suggested Mrs. Potter.  "But we'll be gone all through the Christmas holidays.  We're going to the Switzerland for our annual ski trip." 

     "That ought to be fun," Mary said politely.  

     "Lily, Rose, Mary!" Anetka called.  

     "We have to go now," Lily said hurriedly.  "Nice meeting you.  Bye, James! Bye, David! See you at Hogwarts!" 

     As the sisters walked back to their parents, Rose nudged Lily.  "Look," she whispered.  Lily glanced back to see the Potter family entering their Mercedes.  

     "Wow." 

     Inside the blessedly heated minivan they found Petunia much as how they left her in September – headphones over her ears and book in hand.  She barely acknowledged their greetings.  

     One the way home Lily and Rose gave a glowing account of Hogwarts and their friends, Nicki interrupting every now and then to ask if someone or something was still there.  Mary listened with rapt attention.  

     Upon their arrival at the Evans' home Lily and Rose unpacked and went to the kitchen, where Anetka made hot chocolate and popcorn.  

     The days flashed by.  Nicki took time off from work to be home with all four of his girls, a situation he knew would be rare enough in the future.  Anetka took them shopping later in the week, which elicited a spark of interest from Petunia.  

     Christmas came and went, Lily, Rose, and even Mary receiving presents from some of their fellow first year Gryffindors.  

     But before they knew it, Lily and Rose were back at Hogwarts with everyone, and James and David were bursting with news of America.  And life settled back into lessons and homework before they could believe it.  

     Except for one thing: Lily's suspicions of Remus.  She made a prediction to herself of when the next disappearance would be, and if it came true, she decided that she would confront Remus.  

     And on January the ninth, as the group of friends sat in the common room, working together on a Potions essay, Remus stood up.  Everyone looked at him questioningly.  

     "Sorry everyone, but my aunt's ill.  I really have to go home." 

     "Again?" Sirius asked incredulously.  "That's what, the fifth time? Your family has very weak immune systems, do they?" 

     Remus shrugged, unable to meet his eyes.  Lily watched him intently.  "Sorry," he repeated.  "I'll see you in the morning." 

     Accompanied by his friends' goodbyes and well-wishes for his aunt, he left the common room.  

     Lily sat back in her chair by the fire, her mind far from the parchment, which was nearly full of neatly written lines, in her lap.  She had half-wished that he hadn't gone, just to prove her wrong.  But he had.  

     The friends quickly finished their and Remus' essay, and, one by one, headed up to their dorms.  Except for Lily.  She continued to sit in her chair, finishing her and other people's bits of homework.  When the clock struck ten thirty, she and Rose were alone in the common room.  Lily turned to her sister.  

     "You can go to bed now, Rose.  I'm going to stay up for a while." 

     "Sure you don't want some company, Lily?" Rose offered.  Lily shook her head.  

     "Well, goodnight." 

     "Goodnight." 

     Five minutes later, Lily went up to her dorm to retrieve _Little Women_.  She had been meaning to reread that.  

     Two hours later, Lily realized she was slipping off to sleep.  It was barely 1:30! Remus wouldn't be back for hours.  Fretting, she stood up and paced the common room.  Finally she fetched her French workbook.  Anetka had given her the complete set for her tenth birthday, and since then she had determined to teach herself French.  But since she had arrived to Hogwarts she had not had much time to work on it.  

     Anyone who had entered the common room at 3:00 that morning would have been very much alarmed to see an eleven-year-old redhead earnestly conversing with the fire in French and, still later, translating _Little Women_ to the diminishing flames.  

     It was a little after five A.M.  when, as Lily was researching the word "werewolf" in her English/French dictionary, the portrait hole creaked open and a boy practically fell into the common room.  Lily's head shot up.  Her mouth opened to call out a greeting, but she stopped herself just in time.  _English, Lily,_ she reminded herself.  

      "Remus! You're back!" 

     The boy jumped about three feet.  

     "Lily?" he whispered groggily.  The girl leaped to her feet, picking up the mug of the potion she had made earlier during the night.  

     "Drink this," she ordered, pressing it into his hand.  "It will help wake you up." He obeyed without thinking.  

     "Lily," he said thickly, as he lowered the mug, "What are you doing still up?" 

     "Waiting for you!" she replied.  She gestured toward a chair next to hers.  "Sit down." 

     "What? Lily, no.  I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open.  I need to go to bed." 

     "That's why I made the potion.  Now sit down," she said firmly.  

     "Lily, please – in the morning." 

     "Do you need some more? I have more in my room." 

     He thought.  To his surprise, he did feel a bit more alert.  Remus allowed Lily to guide him to a chair.  

     "What do you want to talk about?" he asked, defeated.  Lily sat down opposite him, looking seriously into his tired brown eyes.  She decided to get right to the point.  

     "It's no coincidence that you disappear every month on the full moon, is it?" she said bluntly.  He jerked in surprise.  

     "What? I – what are you talking about?" he stammered.  Perhaps if it had been morning, and he had been more awake, Remus could have done a better job at deceiving her.  As it was, she saw right through it.  

    "Your mother gets an awful lot of relapses, Remus," Lily said quietly.  "Dumbledore is nice, but why is he letting you go so much? And why doesn't your aunt let you stay until morning, especially if you come back so exhausted? Does the Hogwarts Express come at every hour of the night? And you ought to get more sleep than you look like you do." Remus lowered his face into his hands.  A feeling of overwhelming doom became stronger and stronger with every point she made.  Lily leaned forward, her voice becoming a whisper.  "Every night on the full moon.  You disappear at sunset, and reappear at sunrise.  You are a werewolf." 

     It wasn't a question, just a statement of fact.  Remus slowly lowered his hands.  There was no point in trying to convince her otherwise.  She knew.  

     "Who knows?" he asked in a low voice.  Lily started.  He hadn't even tried to deny it.  

     "Just me," she replied.  He looked up, surprised.  

     "You didn't tell anyone? Not even Rose?" 

     "No," she assured him.  "I decided not to until you admitted it.  But now I will." 

     He sat straight up, alarmed.   "No, no, no! Don't, Lily! Please!" 

     "Why not, Remus?" she asked, bewildered.  "We're your friends." 

     "So was Paul," he replied.  He stood up, pacing in front of her as he explained.   "I got the bite when I was four years old.  But before I met David and James and Sirius, I was best friends with a boy named Paul.  We were very close.  Well, one day I decided to tell him.  I thought he would be okay with it.  I was wrong." He sighed.  "To cut a long story short, we never saw each other again.  Wait, I take that back.  Once I passed him on the street.  He looked at me as though I was about to attack him." His voice had turned bitter.  "When I met the twins and Sirius, I swore to never, no matter how much it cost me, let them find out what I am." Remus spun around to face Lily, whose eyes were wide with sympathy.  "Why? I like having friends, Lily." Something seemed to occur to him; he abruptly turned away.  "Though I suppose you'll never want to speak to a _werewolf_ again either." At once her compassionate look evaporated, and she scowled.  

     "Now I'm offended, Remus.  Don't put me on Paul's level.  There are prejudiced jerks in the world, but I'm not one of them.  And neither are the boys," she added, after a thought.  "You're wrong about them.  They're not going to desert you.  It's not your fault that a horrible accident happened to you.  I mean, you didn't walk into the middle of a pack of werewolves with raw steaks tied to your legs, did you?" 

     A trace of shock flashed across his face.  "So...you're not angry? You still want to be my friend?" 

     The strain of staying up all night and dealing with this finally broke upon her speech.  _ "Tu es un foi! "___

He stared.  Lily, however, hadn't even noticed her temporary language switch.  She raised her voice a notch.  "Hello? Are you a werewolf _and_ deaf? Did you listen to a word I said? It – is – not – your – fault." She emphasized and pronounced clearly every word.  "You did not ask to become a werewolf, it was forced upon you.  You had no choice in the matter.  Are the words that are coming out of my mouth reaching your middle ear? And if they aren't, then maybe Sirius or David can pound it through your thick skull." 

      At once that same look of alarm filled his face.  

     "Lily, please try to understand.  I was sure that Paul wouldn't care either.  But now...please, Lily.  Don't tell anyone.  Please." He had fallen to his knees in front of her, begging.  She gave up.  

     "All right! I won't tell anyone.  But you're still wrong." 

     He was not satisfied.  "Swear it." 

     "I swear that you're wrong." 

     "No! Swear that you won't tell anyone." 

     "I swear I won't tell anyone that you're wrong." 

     "Lily!" 

     Realizing that he wouldn't be content until she was serious, she pulled out from beneath her shirt her locket that held pictures of her sisters and closed her hand around it.  

     "I swear that I won't tell anyone you're a werewolf." 

     "Thank you!" Remus got back in his chair, relieved.  "You don't know how much that means to me." 

     For a moment they were quiet.  Then Lily inquired, 

     "Where do you go every month?" 

     "Oh.  Well, I don't go home.  Er – remember that new tree on our grounds? The Whomping Willow?" he reminded her.  She nodded.  "Dumbledore put it in because I came.  There's a knot on the trunk.  You press it, it freezes.  The tree, I mean.  And there's a hole on the side that leads to a tunnel that leads to a house in Hogsmeade.  Haven't you heard the older kids tell about how the villagers are hearing all these screams and stuff from that old house late at night?" He raised a hand, smiling weakly.  "That would be me." 

     Lily's green eyes widened.  "You scream?" 

     "Well, yeah," he said quietly, staring into the dying fire.  "It hurts.  A lot." 

     Lily stared at him, tears filling her eyes.  Remus glanced up, and saw the first one slide down her cheek.  

     "Oh, come on now, Lily!" he cried, leaning forward.  "Don't cry!" 

     "I'm sorry!" she choked, brushing the tears away.  "It's just – I know what a great person you are, and it's not fair that something like this had to happen to you." 

     "It's okay," he assured her.  "I'm used to it now, anyway." It was a downright lie, and both of them knew it.  

     "Can I give you a hug?" she asked suddenly.  

     "Er – all right," Remus said, surprised.  Lily hugged him tightly, more tears spilling down her cheeks.  When they broke apart, her face wasn't the only one wet.  Lily, knowledgeable of a boy's ego, chose not to mention it.  She looked at her watch.  

     "If we go to bed right now, we can sleep for about an hour and a half." 

     "Amen," he murmured, standing.  "Goodnight, Lily." She smiled at the sunlight streaming through the window.  

     "You mean good morning." 

     "Whatever," he muttered, moving slothfully toward the stairs.  But a thought struck him, and he turned back toward her.  

     "Did you stay up the entire night waiting for me?" 

     Lily nodded, smiling sheepishly.  Remus shook his head, continuing to make his way up the staircase.  

     Lily realized she didn't have enough energy to do the same.  She grabbed a blanket lying on a chair – it was cold, even for January – and curled up on the sofa, murmuring, _"C'est la vie," _right before she slipped off into unconsciousness.  

     Lily kept her word, and did not tell anyone – not even Rose – about Remus's secret.  Not without temptation, though.  But every time he disappeared and reappeared, she resorted to merely muttering in what sounded suspiciously like French.  She had other talks with him when they were alone.  Lily tried to convince him again and again that he should tell his friends, they were smart, sooner or later they were going to figure it out themselves.  Remus wouldn't hear it.  

     But the rest of the year passed quickly.  Lily and Rose went home again for Easter holidays, and after that the year practically evaporated.  On the second of May Lily celebrated her first birthday away from home.  Anetka and Nicki, undaunted by the distance, sent her a birthday cake, lit candles included.  James, Sirius, David, and Remus mysteriously produced a miniature feast in the common room at midnight just for the Gryffindor first years.  Lily was very pleased.  

     Everyone did well in their exams – although Peter only just scraped through – with Lily and James tying for top of year.  

     On June the first, they found themselves once again in the Hogwarts Express heading home.  A friendly prefect had given them the use of his compartment, so Lily, Rose, James, David, Sirius, Remus, Alice, and Nicole had actually managed to all squeeze into it.  

     They spent the hours talking and planning their next year.  James, David and Sirius dreamily talked of the Quidditch positions they would play, while Lily, Rose, Alice, and Nicole half listened to the boys and half wondered about what kind of classes they would have next year.  Peter listened eagerly to all of them.  Remus did none of them above, but fell asleep with Midnight in his lap.  

     So when the train began to slow down, it caught them all by surprise.  But they quickly woke Remus, gathered their things, and assembled in the corridor.  

     Outside of the barrier as they went their separate ways, James and David called one more time to the sisters that they would owl them as soon as they could come over.  Alice and Nicole walked away with the LaVonnes and Adesanyas talking excitedly.  Remus got a lift home with Sirius, and Peter – where did Peter disappear to? Lily paused near the door of her minivan, searching for him.  But he was gone.  Just as she was turning back to Mary, something else caught her eye – Snape.  She knew he had stayed at Hogwarts during both of the holidays, and now she was curious to where he would go.  He didn't seem particularly happy to be out of school, but – bored, really.  He walked forward looking neither to the right nor left, not looking for anyone.  He walked straight to a waiting car by the side of the road.  No one came out to greet him.  He loaded his trunk into the back and slipped into the passenger seat, just as the car started to move away.  Lily stood there, wondering who it was that picked him up, when Mary's voice brought her back.  

     "Lily?" 

     Her head snapped back around.  She smiled.  

     "It's over, Mary.  Next year you'll be with us, and it will be fantastic.  It will be the best ever.  I know it." 

     Mary grinned back.


	5. Book Three: Discoveries & Determinations

**Chapter Three – Second Year Discoveries and Determinations**

**_Part One_**

"No," said Nicki flatly. "Absolutely not."

"Nicki," pleaded Lily, "it's only for the weekend."

"Exactly."

"Just one night!"

"With three boys across the hall. I think not."

An owl had just arrived from the Potter's bringing an invitation for Lily and Rose to spend the weekend with them, and Sirius. Nicki was immovable.

"Nicki, we're only twelve. Actually, Rose isn't even twelve yet. What could we do?"

"You'd be surprised."

"Nicki! We're just friends," Rose broke in.

"So were Anetka and I," said Nicki stubbornly. Mary, who had been listening, now spoke.

"If I went with them, could we go?"

He turned to study his youngest daughter. She had turned eleven in January. Even though she was small for her age, she was surprisingly strong, having taken karate lessons a few years ago, and she was more protective of Lily and Rose than ever. Nicki had no worries about his middle daughters hitting their teen years at Hogwarts, as long as Mary was there.

"If you went with them..." said Nicki slowly. "I suppose so."

Lily and Rose squealed with joy. Upstairs, Petunia winced and turned the TV up.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Hey," he said quickly. "You need to ask them if they mind Mary coming."

"Oh, they won't," said Lily confidently, but Rose was already writing their response.

The Potters had no problem with it, and it was arranged that the girls would leave early Saturday morning and return Sunday evening by Floo. Nicki remained slightly uneasy, and cautioned all three girls constantly that if they wanted to come back on Saturday night, it was perfectly fine, and no one would think less of them. In fact, if they did, Nicki would take them anywhere they wanted to go within the country the next weekend.

"No," Lily told him. "It's really alright."

Finally Saturday morning arrived, and Lily, Rose, and Mary lined up in front of the fireplace.

"Have a good time," said Anetka cheerfully, presenting Lily the bag of Floo Powder.

"Be careful," said Nicki nervously.

"We will," Rose promised as she followed Lily and her bag into the fire.

"I'll watch, I promise," Mary assured him. "Don't worry." She stepped into the green fire, pulling her duffle bag behind her.

Petunia, who had paused on the staircase to watch, gave a shudder before continuing her way upstairs.

Lily stepped out of the fireplace onto a cool marble floor of a room so large it could be mistaken for a room in Hogwarts.

A chandelier hung from the ceiling, lighting the room along with the giant two-story windows. Everything was sparkling clean. _Petunia would love it if there wasn't magic everywhere, _Lily reflected. She heard Rose step out behind her.

"Oh, wow."

"Incredible, isn't it?" Lily murmured.

"Definitely," Mary's voice whispered as its owner straightened.

A house-elf appeared at the door across them, gave a small squeak, and raced away. The sisters looked at each other.

"Well," said Lily uncertainly, "I suppose we should just wait here until someone finds us."

"Or until that house-elf gets whoever he was running for," muttered Mary.

As they stood there, nervously brushing ash off each other and trying to not let it land on anything, they continued to admire the richly furnished room. Lily and Rose had noticed that on weekends David and James had always worn nice clothes, but never like this. Scarlet curtains were drawn back at the window, tied with gold tassels. A long sofa curled around the wall covered with quilts and pillows. A cabinet held all sorts of crystal figurines and bowls, which glittered brilliantly in the light. Even the carpet that spread away from the marble was a shining white. It appeared to be several inches thick.

"Try not to touch anything," Rose whispered.

"That's going to be difficult if you're planning to stay here for two days," a voice answered her. The woman it belonged to walked through the doorway. It was Mrs. Potter. She wore sky-blue robes that matched her eyes, and her black hair fell straight down her back. A silver necklace with a large sapphire set in gold hung around her neck. She smiled at them.

"I'm sorry the boys aren't awake to greet you. You see, Sirius arrived last night, and even though I warned them to go to bed before midnight, they insisted on staying up until about four." She laughed. "But you don't have to stand here until they wake up. I'll show you to your rooms." Motioning for the girls to follow her, Mrs. Potter led them through the mansion.

"James said that the two of you" -she looked at Lily and Rose- "would share a room. But when we realized that you were coming also, dearie, we weren't sure if you would like a separate room or not."

"We can all share a room," said Lily quickly. "That's what we do at home."

"Are you sure?" asked Mrs. Potter, turning her bright blue eyes upon her. "I can arrange for you to have rooms next to each other."

Now Mary spoke. "Mrs. Potter-"

"Natalie, please."

"Oh – Natalie, the reason we asked if I could come is because our father was a bit – er, anxious about Lily and Rose staying overnight with three boys. The only way they could come was if I went along. I think part of the deal was that I stay in the same room."

Natalie Potter nodded. "Understandable, Mary dear. You can use one of our larger rooms then." By now they had walked through half a dozen hallways and up quite a few staircases. Suddenly, the twins' mother put a finger to her lips and tiptoed forward, beckoning for the Evans sisters to join her at the threshold of a door. She slowly pushed it open a few inches, and then pointed inside. Curious, the three young witches peered into the room.

The scene inside was comical. Wrappers of all sorts of sweets were strewn across the floor, sofa, and bed, and a jug with an inch of pumpkin juice left was in the middle of the floor. Sirius was the only person on the bed. He lay sideways on it, one hand flung over the side. James – or was it David? – was asleep at the foot of the bed, a catalog of racing brooms across his chest. The other twin was half-on, half-off the couch, the remnants of an Ice Mouse hanging out of his mouth. Suppressing giggles, the girls closed the door and crept away with Natalie. She laughed softly.

"Of course, they're going to clean every bit of that up by themselves."

"Do you think they're going to wake up anytime soon?" Mary asked.

"Maybe in a half hour. Come on, your room's in the next floor up."

The room was gigantic – it was bigger than their common room at Hogwarts. There was a king-size bed, a table, a desk, a sofa, a bookshelf, a cupboard, and a bathroom. A window seat took up nearly half of a wall, and two skylights let direct light shine down. Lily, Rose, and Mary had never been in anything so beautiful before in their entire lives.

After thanking Natalie again and again, they unpacked their clothes and began to explore their quarters. Their hostess had provided a bell for them to ring if they needed anything. A house-elf would come running.

Thus the weekend began. After an hour or so the boys awoke, and, after cleaning up their room under Natalie Potter's supervision, gave the sisters a grand tour of the entire mansion. Sirius knew it as well as James and David did. They showed them the library, greenhouse, indoor Quidditch stadium, and kitchens. In the afternoon the boys taught them all about Quidditch, and then held a miniature game of their own. Rose and Mary proved to be very good at it, the elder as a Chaser and the younger as a Beater. James actually said Rose might make the team when school started and Mary the following year.

James was trying for Seeker, and he soon showed he would be an excellent one. David was a Chaser, and he quickly taught Rose the basics. Sirius played the part of Beater, working alongside Mary, who had by no means forgotten her Potion. She was as distant to him as she could be without being downright rude. He was puzzled by this, and couldn't, try as hard as he could, think of something he had done to put her off.

But, all in all, it was a very enjoyable day, and when the six friends finally sank, exhausted, to the ground, there was a house-elf waiting for them with a tray holding a jug of lemonade and half a dozen glasses. That night they ate supper with Joseph and Natalie Potter. Mr. Potter also insisted the girls address him by their first name.

Afterwards Lily, Rose, and Mary introduced the boys to a Muggle game called Twister, which twisted them all into situations that were quite humorous, including one that involved David over Lily that Nicki would have fainted at if he had seen it, and another that left Mary quite frightened and unnerved. It was a quarter to twelve when the friends finally limped back to their separate floors.

The following morning the six witches and wizards met outside to eat breakfast, followed by defiantly kicking in the face of the no-swimming-one-hour-after-eating rule. Nicki had taught all four of his girls how to swim as soon as they could walk, so it was a bit of fun to see the girls challenging the boys to races and the like.

Hours later they were sitting comfortably on the steps of the shallow end, having burned all the energy a normal twelve-year-old would have and more. Finally Rose broke the silence.

"Why didn't you invite Remus?"

"We did," David quickly replied. "He said something about his mum wanting him home."

"She gets ill a lot, doesn't she?" asked Mary, who had heard about Remus' disappearances from her sisters.

"Yeah, she does," said Sirius slowly. "I saw her at the end of the year when I was dropping off Remus, and she didn't look that bad."

"It's really strange," murmured Rose, dipping her hair back into the water.

Lily kept her silence. She was the only one here who knew the truth. She was the only one in the entire student body who knew the truth. _I promised him I wouldn't tell, _she reminded herself. _Not anyone_.

"What do you think, Lily?"

The question snapped her back. "Oh – what?"

James splashed her. "Wake up. You fall asleep in a pool, you'll drown. I asked you what you thought about Remus' visits to his mother."

"What about it?" she responded, trying to act normal.

"It's just – I don't know. Parts of it don't add up."

_ I told you so,_ Remus, Lily thought. But in spite of that, she quickly jumped to his defense. "You don't think he lied to you, do you?"

"No," said James hastily. "Of course not. But - I'm not accusing him – doesn't it seem a little strange to you?"

"No." _Not anymore._ "He has to go home to visit his sick mother once a-" She barely caught herself, but without pause she amended it. "-in a while. What's so strange about that?" Then, fearing she might have sounded a bit rude, Lily added, "I'm not trying to be mean, but really: I don't think it's weird." As James started to reply, she swiftly switched the subject. "David, can your house-elves make pizza?"

He grinned. "Ha, ha, and ha again."

"Wonderful," Lily said, hoisting herself out of the pool and wrapping a towel around her waist. "Can you tell them to make a plain cheese pizza?"

"No, he can't," Sirius countered, jumping out as well. "Because he's going to tell them to make a chicken pizza."

"You're both wrong," James cut in, following his brother, Rose, and Mary up the steps. "David and I _own_ the house-elves, and they're going to make a pepperoni pizza."

"How about a chicken and pepperoni?"

"But what about our cheese?"

"It's called removing them, dear."

"But I thought we weren't allowed to do a Removing Spell during the summer!"

"My son, let me introduce to you an old and wonderful practice. One pinches the offending object between one's index finger and thumb and plucks it away, disposing where convenient. I will demonstrate as soon as Flossie cooks the darned thing. Or perhaps I will use _you_ as the offending object."

"Shut it, James."

Laughter filled the air.

All too soon, the chicken and pepperoni pizza was on its way to digestion and it was time for the female half of the six to depart. They all assembled in their room, the boys trying to help and thus slowing the packing process. But, unfortunately, it was soon finished, and James, David, and Sirius insisted on carrying their luggage downstairs, much to the girls' amusement. It was very ingenious the number of ways they found to delay it, though they had to stop when Sirius accidentally/on purpose let Mary's bag fall down the staircase they had just climbed, and it completely – accidentally hit Rose in the shin. After that Natalie showed up and levitated the bags the rest of the way to the living room. The boys were very disappointed.

So the six friends – and Natalie Potter – said their goodbyes in front of the fireplace.

"It was a lot of fun," James said, tossing powder into the flames. "You have to come again sometime. And next time for a week."

"I think you'll have to convince Nicki first that you're not going to attack us as soon as we're alone," laughed Rose.

David leaned against the wall. "Does he know that for about ten months we slept within fifty feet of each other?"

"I don't think it's quite hit him yet," Lily said, smiling. "Well, goodbye." The last word echoed all around and first Lily, then Rose, and at last Mary stepped into the fireplace, calling out the name Nicki had given their home ever since Mary had been born:

"Little Women."

The rest of the summer went by without a remarkable incident, except for perhaps one.

It was late August and Petunia had just reached her thirteenth birthday. Realizing that it wouldn't be long before her youngest sister was gone to the weird school too, Petunia launched a whole new attack against her. The things she whispered in Mary's ear were nothing new, but simply reinforced. And it still hurt as much as it ever did.

At last the eleven-year-old fled outside and up the tree into their tree house. But Petunia's taunts still rang in her mind.

_ You're not related to us, and you never will be! Look at Lily and Rose, they're best friends, do you honestly think you're one of them? What are you going to do at your school? The cliques have already been formed; they're not going to accept you... ___

"Hey."

The single word snapped Mary back. She looked up to see Lily and Rose standing in front of her. To her mortification, she actually felt pricks in her eyes. Mary quickly brushed them away. Lily sighed as she knelt in front of her.

"What did she say this time, Mary?"

"Nothing," she said, staring at the ground. "It doesn't matter." _It's all true, anyway, _she added bitterly to herself.

"Don't give me that," Lily said quietly, taking Mary's hand. "This isn't different from any other time, but now that she's older she's got more powerful arguments. Now come on, tell us."

The dam burst. Mary, who hitherto had made it a policy not to bother Lily and Rose with Petunia's torments, now poured forth all the injustices and lies that she had begun to believe to be true. Lily and Rose listened without interruption, until finally Mary ended her tirade.

"Of course, you don't believe it, do you?" Rose asked.

"How can't I?" replied Mary miserably. "Everything she says makes sense."

"You're not so stupid, Mary," said Lily, a bit more sharply than she intended.

"It does!" cried Mary. "You two are best friends, and it's more than that, you're practically twins! Practical Magic made you two born within five months of each other. You grew together. I'm – I'm not even related," she finished helplessly.

_ It's usually the adopted child that feels neglected,_ Lily thought. But she quickly took up the argument. "Mary," she said softly, looking straight into her brown eyes, "you are closer to me and Rose than Petunia is. It doesn't matter that we're not biologically related, you're as close as – as – any two Practical Magic sisters! Everyone at Hogwarts knows that our younger sister is coming to school in the fall. We've told everyone about you. Mary, I love you as much as I love Rose, and so does she. I don't care whether you're the same blood or not." Seeing the lingering doubts in Mary's eyes, Lily sighed and turned to face the bookshelf. She held open her hand, and the pocketknife lying on top magically flew to her. Turning back to her sisters, she ordered, "Open your left hand. You too," she added, glancing at a surprised Rose.

"Now," Lily continued, opening the knife, "I'm going to make each of you a promise. Mary first, then Rose." They understood what she was going to do with the knife – it was an old Practical Magic vowing tradition. "Mary, when we grow up, and if I get married" -as expected, she had long forgotten her four-year-old potion- "if I ever have a baby girl, you will be the godmother." Practical Magic dictated that every Practical Magic witch who got married has two daughters, but it was understood that their generation was a bit conflicted. Not only that, but ever since Lily had entered Hogwarts she had stopped studying Practical Magic, much to her mother's disappointment.

"My blood," Lily said, cutting a diagonal line across her palm without flinching. A thin, bright line of blood appeared.

"Your blood," she continued, copying the motion across Mary's palm, who also took it without wincing.

"Our blood," the sisters said simultaneously, clasping their hands together. They held it briefly, and then Lily turned to Rose.

"And if I have a son, you can be the godmother." They repeated the ritual with Lily cutting a second line next to her old one.

When it was over, Lily leaned back on her heels and took each of her sisters' hands in her own. "That's the best I can do to convince you I love you equally. Now it's up to you to believe it."


	6. Part Two of Book Three

**_Part Two_**

      September first found the Evans family again at Platform 9 3/4.  Anetka was in tears once more at her baby's parting, and Petunia tried to make it appear to any passing strangers that she had never seen these people bidding farewell in front of a blank wall. 

     On the train the three sisters found Alice and Nicole in an otherwise empty compartment, and the second years spent the hours coaching the first year about the Sorting Ceremony and Hogwarts in general. 

     Mary couldn't understand why she felt so why she felt so nervous.  She had told herself for months that she didn't care about Hogwarts, but now that she was en route there on its train – she really did feel jittery. 

     Mary was now, as she always had been, the most devout Practical Magic witch of the three.  She knew the rules and spells up and down.  Years ago she had asked Nicki if she could just not go to Hogwarts.  He had come in danger of spontaneously combusting, and Mary had to act quickly to calm him.  After that, she understood she was attending Hogwarts, but that was it.  She considered those seven years wasted except for making friends and just growing up.  She hadn't thought it was very important to her overall life.  Maybe she could pick up a spell or two, but Practical Magic was her life.  She couldn't care less about Hogwarts.  Or that's what she had thought. 

     "It's unreasonable," she said, nervously rolling her new wand between her fingers.  "I don't care about Hogwarts.  I shouldn't be worried."

     "You're going to be spending the next seven years of your life there," Alice reminded her.  "It's okay."

     A little while later, James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter showed up at their door.  The friends spoke for a while, the boys giving Mary their own kind of advice.  Finally they went back to their own compartment, leaving the girls to change. 

     When the Hogwarts Express began to slow down, Mary's face went several shades whiter.  The five girls walked together out of the train, the four elder giving the younger final words of encouragement. 

     "Don't look so scared, we promise it won't kill you-"

     "Mary, you're our sister, of course you're going to be in Gryffindor-"

     "Don't fall out of the boat – there's a giant squid-"

     "That's Hagrid."

     The last one was accompanied with a point, wave, and greeting. 

     "How yeh doin', Rose? Hey, Lily!" the startlingly large man inquired, swinging a lantern. 

     "Fine, Hagrid," Lily answered, smiling.  "This is our sister that we told you about, Mary."

     "Pleasure to meet yeh," boomed Hagrid.  "Right here into the boats, Mary, c'mon – Firs' years! Four ter a boat! Firs' years!" With a wave to her sisters and Alice and Nicole, Mary headed to the dock. 

     "Girls!" The four remaining second-years whipped around; they recognized that voice.  Sirius stood in front of a carriage, his foot inside the door. 

     He waved them over.  "I saved you it," he said, pushing the door all the way open so they could climb inside.  "They're filling up fast."

     "Thanks, Sirius," said Lily gratefully. 

     "No problem," he replied, closing the door and jumping into the carriage behind them. 

     Inside the Great Hall the nine friends had to hurry to get seats either next or across from each other.  They waited impatiently for the Sorting, Lily and Rose fidgeting as they watched for their youngest sister.  At last-

     "Evans, Mary!" If she was nervous, she didn't show it.  She walked forward to the stool and slipped on the hat.  Several seconds went by. 

     "Oh, please," whispered Lily, "Please, please, please." Rose said nothing, but crossed her fingers on both hands, placing them on opposite shoulders and looked up with closed eyes toward the heavens. 

     "GRYFFINDOR!" Both Lily and Rose started to breathe again, and then joined the tumultuous applause from their section of the Hall. 

     The next morning classes began in earnest.  Lily and Rose attacked them with their usual enthusiasm, and the boys with their usual sighs, even though they – with the exception of Peter – were as good as the girls were. 

     Mary, despite her scorn for nearly every class, did as well as Lily did, showing a special talent in Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts. 

     Rose reached her twelfth birthday.  She was the youngest Gryffindor second-year, Sirius being the oldest.  He would turn thirteen in late November. 

     Two weeks into the school year, a notice appeared informing the pupils that Quidditch trials would be held in the stadium on Saturday for second-years and above, causing much rejoicing for nearly all the students. 

     On Saturday all the second-year Gryffindors and Mary were at the stadium, though all of them would not be trying out.  Lily, Alice, Mary, Remus, and Peter stood at the side. 

     There were a lot of empty places on the team; a lot of the players had been seventh-years last year.  The captain, a sixth-year girl, was a bit desperate, and was delighted with the number of try-outers. 

     James went for Seeker, David and Rose for Chaser, Sirius and Nicole for Beater.  They all did very well, and Captain Chloe Shaw had trouble concealing a grin as she told them the results would be in tomorrow. 

     The next day the following appeared on the billboard in the Gryffindor common room:

**Gryffindor Quidditch Tryout Results:******

**Seeker: James Potter******

**Chasers: Chloe Shaw (Captain), Rose Evans, David Potter******

**Beaters: Nicole Adesanya, Sirius Black******

**Keeper: Andrew Mallahem******

     To say the least, the new Quidditch players walked around the school with grins on their faces for days. 

     Life settled down as it had last year, except for Quidditch practice and games.  Gryffindor made a spectacular win the first game of the season, giving the house a definite lead toward the Cup.  

     Remus was still disappearing one night every month.  His friends became more and more puzzled by it, except for Lily, of course.  One Saturday in October, a couple of days after the full moon, Lily asked Remus to meet her by the lake after breakfast. 

     It was getting chilly; the giant squid was no longer near the surface to be subject to the students' experiments and whims.  Lily and Remus walked around the lake as they talked.  She got right to the point. 

     "Remus, how long do you plan to keep this up?"

     He raised his eyebrows.  "You think I have a choice in turning into a werewolf?"

     She didn't crack a smile, but looked straight into his eyes.  "No, but you do have a choice in lying to your best friends."

     He winced and stared at the ground.  "I wish you wouldn't put it like that."

     "That's what it is," she said bluntly.  "Remus, I told you your friends are clever the night I found out.  Sooner or later – and it's starting to look like sooner – they're going to figure it out like I did."

      He looked back up, alarmed.  "What do you mean?"

     "I told you," she said quietly.  "They are not stupid.  They are almost one hundred percent sure that your mother and aunt aren't ill all these times, and they are one hundred percent sure that there's more to it than you're telling them." She crossed her arms. 

     "But – they haven't thought that I'm a…."

     She shook her head.  "Not yet.  But it's only a matter of time before they look back and realize that you were gone every full moon."

     Suddenly, Remus' shoulders slumped and he sat down.  "Oh, Lily, I don't know what I was thinking.  I just wanted some friends, even for a short time, but I should've known better than to think it would last forever."

     Lily knelt beside him and put a hand on his shoulder.  "Remus, you are right in thinking that they will find out.  But when they do, they're not going to not want to be your friend anymore."

     "Paul..."

     "Paul was an idiot! Your best friends are not idiots!"

     He stood up abruptly.  "Lily, maybe you're right, maybe you're not.  I don't want to find out.  I'll keep it up as long as I can, and I'll deal with them finding out when they do." And with that, he walked back to the castle. 

     Lily was left kneeling on the ground, rubbing her temples as she muttered about boys.

     It was late November.  Remus had just proclaimed his aunt ill, and a visit was mandatory.  Sirius and David were sitting moodily by the window of the common room.  Lily, Rose, Mary, James, and David were spread listlessly in the chairs in front of the fire.  A light layer of snow had fallen earlier that day.  James and Mary were starting their third game of chess – Mary had won the earlier two – when Sirius started and cried,

     "It's Remus!"

     "Well, of course," said James without looking up. 

     "No, I mean – he's not going to the train! He's with Madam Pomfrey!"

     "He is!" David exclaimed. 

     The friends looked up.  Lily was starting to feel nervous. 

     "What?" James joined his brother and best friend at the window.  Everyone else crowded around. 

     "I'm – I'm sure it's just a detour," protested Lily.  "And of course a teacher is going to escort him."

     "No – look!"

     Six of the seven friends watched with wide eyes, but the seventh closed hers.  Lily had watched him one night after Rose had fallen asleep.  Now Madam Pomfrey had taken a long stick and was prodding a knot on the trunk. 

     "What the..." David trailed off as the violent tree froze and Remus made his way forward. 

     "What – what's he doing?" asked Peter uncertainly. 

     "Well, I don't know, Peter," said Sirius sarcastically.  "Why don't we wait and see?" Rose nudged him.  Sirius always had the least patience with him, and unchecked he could be scathing. 

     "Wait – he disappeared!" James suddenly cried. 

     "He went into the corner of the tree." Mary whispered – she had the clearest view.  "I think there was a hole or something."

     Lily sat down in the nearest chair and put her head in her hands.  It was over. 

     There was a pause of a few seconds while, Lily guessed, Madam Pomfrey walked back inside.  Then James spoke. 

     "Well."

     "Look at the moon," said Sirius suddenly.  Everyone did so, except for Lily.  "You think it's a coincidence?" There was a stunned silence. 

     "What?" David finally said.  "You can't be saying-"

     "Don't pretend you haven't thought of it before," Sirius cut in.  "we've all thought about it.  And it makes perfect sense.  Haven't you noticed it's every full moon when he's gone?"

     "What?" Peter said, though without the incredulous note David had.  It was more of a puzzled one.  "Oh – you mean he's a werewolf?"

     "No, I mean his family really are ill every month!" he shot at him.  Peter flinched. 

     "He can't be!" David said, falling back into his chair by the window.  "He would tell me something like that!" He really did look shocked. 

     "Not if he had a really good reason," James said slowly. 

     "Lily," said Rose suddenly.  "You know something, don't you?" Everyone looked at the small redhead in the chair.  She raised her head as she tried to think of a response. 

     "You do," said James, quickly moving in front of her.  "What do you know about Remus?"

     "Can't we talk about this in the morning?" she said finally.  She had known this day – or night – would come eventually, but she still didn't know what to say or do. 

      "No," said James firmly.  "Now."

     "No, not now." said Lily, who was beginning to feel nervous.  When she felt nervous, she got sarcastic.  She was actually capable of making as scathing retorts as Sirius could, but she was usually too nice to. 

     "Lily," said David sharply, standing also.  "This is important.  If he's a werewolf, we need to know."

     "No, you don't," Lily snapped.  "Life would go on just as it has for the last year." James raised his eyebrows and glanced at his brother.  But Sirius took it up. 

     "Lil, we were all friends long before we even met you.  We ought to know about something like this."

     "Oh, really?" she shot at him.  "I agree.  You should.  Why don't you?"

     Sirius was taken aback.  He gave James the look the latter had just given David.  Now James placed his hands on the armchairs, trapping her. 

     "Lily, we're not going to leave until you tell us.  And we can wait all night if we have to."

     "Like I did?"

     James did a double take.  "What?"

     She sighed.  "Boys are so blind.  Last year, January.  Rose, remember the morning you found me asleep on the couch?" She nodded.  "I waited up for him.  The entire night.  But when he did show up-" Lily broke off.  Just because the boys had found out didn't mean that she could break her promise.  So they knew.  She would leave it to Remus to explain the way he wanted to. 

     "Go on..." David encouraged.  But she shook her head, her lips pressed tight.  Now Rose stepped up. 

     "I don't any know more than any of you do, but leave Lily alone.  If she doesn't want to tell you, then go ask Remus in the morning." Lily gave her sister a grateful look. 

     "Rose," said Sirius impatiently, "this is serious.  It isn't just an exam or something like that."

     "Glad you noticed," Lily retorted.  "Now will you please get off me, James?" She didn't like him being so close.  It made her uncomfortable.  And nervous. 

     "No.  Not until you tell us," he said stubbornly.  Rose opened her mouth again, but Mary recognized it as her department.  She stepped up to him, eyes narrowed and the threatening look on her face that the boys were learning to be very afraid of. 

     "Let her go," she said icily.  James, as the redheads feared he would, chose the wrong response. 

     "Mary, don't you want to find out about Remus?" James asked recklessly. 

     Both Lily and Rose knew what came next.  As a first-year not even in her third term, she didn't know much magic, and she didn't need to.  In one swift move, the eleven-year-old and pinned the twelve-year-old's arms behind his back, knocked his feet out from under him, and had him flat on his stomach as she dropped to one knee, continuing to hold him down.  He was too stunned to move.  His four friends just stood there with their mouths open.  Mary looked up calmly. 

     "Lily, you wanted to go to bed?"

     She stood.  "Thank you, Mary.  Rose?"

     "Coming." They stopped at the edge of the staircase, and Lily turned back to the boys and Mary.  All the sarcasm and annoyance was gone from her now; her only intention was getting her point across. 

     "Listen, really.  Don't tell anyone about this.  I promise it will be explained in the morning.  Come down at, er, six thirty.  We can all go somewhere and talk it over.  And please, don't do anything stupid between now and then.  You don't know what you're dealing with!" She ended with a pleading look. 

     The next morning James, David, Sirius, and Peter came down the stairs at 6:45 to find Remus dead asleep on a couch, Rose and Mary sitting at his head and Lily pacing in front of them.  As the last one appeared, she whirled to face them.  She seemed to be in a fairly bad temper, which wasn't much for Lily. 

     "I can't believe you," she hissed, trying not to wake Remus.  "You know how tired he is the night after, it's not fair of you to put him through this right now-"

     "Hey, we weren't the ones that suggested talking in the morning!" Sirius protested.  Too loudly.  Remus sat up with a jerk.  He took one look at the boys and groaned,

     "Oh God, no," as he lowered his face into his hands.  "I was hoping it was a nightmare-"

     "It's alright," Rose whispered comfortingly, though she still had no idea what this was about.  Last night Lily had explained to her sisters that she had sworn she wouldn't tell anyone, and they were going to have to wait until tomorrow morning to find out with everyone else. 

     Before anyone could say anything, Lily said, "Not here.  Someone might come down." They walked silently out of the common room and to a nearby classroom. 

_     "Alohomora," _Lily muttered.  Everyone entered, and Remus crashed into the nearest desk, his elbows on the desk and his face in his hands.  Lily sat next to him, and everyone else gathered around. 

     Remus was hurting.  His head throbbed – all of him throbbed when he thought about it – and he was ready to curl up and die.  He couldn't remember having a worse reaction to the night.  And the knowledge that in a few seconds he could very well lose his best friends didn't help at all.  But he had to do it.  Remus forced himself to look up. 

     "Please, no one say anything until I'm finished.  I – I know I should've first told you back when we became friends, but – I didn't want to.  I was scared of what you would think, and I just wanted some friends for a while." He paused.  This was a million times harder than he had ever dreaded it being, which ground against the general rule.  He felt like he was about to be sick.  But he had to.  "So – if you don't want to talk to me or anything anymore, I understand.  I don't expect different." In his mind, there was a painful flashback of Paul, scared and angry, backing up as he screamed,

     "Get away from me, werewolf!"

     Remus had to swallow before continuing.  "You see – the reason I leave every month is because - I'm a werewolf." There was a pause, and Remus closed his eyes, preparing for the worst.  But he wasn't prepared for what they did say. 

     "And..." David said, gesturing that he was waiting. 

     Remus' eyes popped open.  "And what?"

     "And...what's the big secret that we're not going to talk to you again for?" finished David. 

     "Yeah, now I'm curious," Sirius said, sitting on top of a desk.  "How bad can it be, really? Do you have a crush on a Slytherin or something?"

     Mary giggled.  "As long as it's not Snape."

     Remus stared.  Didn't they get it? Or had he not even said it out loud?

     "Didn't you hear me?" he said, looking from face to face for the reaction he had been expecting.  "I'm a werewolf! Aren't – aren't you mad or something?"

     "Oh yes," said James quickly, folding his arms.  "Very.  I can't believe you didn't tell us before.  What kind of a friend are you?"

     This was insane.  They were supposed to be angry and scared, yelling at him and stomping out of the room.  But they were acting like it wasn't a very big deal, asking him what kind of a friend he was.  It was insane.  Remus started to laugh. 

     "Uh-oh," Sirius said, raising his eyebrows.  "He's officially lost it.  Everyone, do not panic.  We have a deranged werewolf on our hands."

     Lily grinned.  "What did I tell you, Remus?"

     The following discussion went very well.  Remus couldn't stop laughing, so he managed to convey to Lily that she should give the entire explanation.  She did so, including the story of Paul, which sobered everyone up (Mary wanted to know where he lived), except for Remus, who just laughed harder than ever.  It was really starting to scare his friends. 

     "So are we going to tell Alice and Nicole?" Rose finally inquired.  Remus immediately stopped laughing. 

     "No," he said quickly.  "Definitely not."

     "Remus!" Lily shrieked. "Don't you learn the first time?"

     "I did the first time," he snapped.  Everyone got quiet. 

     "But Remus," Rose objected.  "Nicole and Alice – like us – are different."

     "I don't care," said Remus, but more calmly.  "Look, if they find out, then explain.  But don't go out of your way to make sure they do.  I don't want to risk it."

     David blew out his breath.  "Fine.  Your secret, Remus.  But I still can't believe you didn't tell us..."

     December 26 the twins celebrated their thirteenth birthday, and ten days later Mary had her twelfth one. 

     The students started their third term, and one afternoon in early February Sirius burst into the common room and ran up to James, David, Remus, and Peter, were sitting at a table, working on Transfiguration homework.  He dropped a large book in the center of the table.  All of his friends jumped. 

     "I got it," Sirius said breathlessly.  _"I got it." ___

     "What?" James asked, staring at it.  "The world's largest book?"

     "No," said Sirius impatiently.  "The way to help you!" He looked excitedly at Remus. 

     "Sirius," Remus said kindly, "I'm glad you want to help, there's no way to help me.  Believe me.  I've checked."

     "Not like that-"

     "Keep your voice down!" whispered David.  Sirius, realizing the wisdom of this, pulled up a chair to the table and continued in a low voice. 

     "Remus, I know I can't do anything to really help, but I think this can sort of help."

_     " 'One, Two, Three, Animagi!_' " James read the cover of the book.  "Animagi – that's a person who can turn into an animal, right?"

     "Brilliant, Sherlock," his brother said, rolling his eyes.  "And you claim to have a one hundred percent in Transfiguration."

     "I do," James said defensively. 

     "That's not the point," Sirius cut in.  "Look," he whispered, glancing around to make certain no one was listening, "don't you get it? As animals, we can't get bitten! We can stay with him."

     "Inside the Shrieking Shack?" Remus questioned.  The title was new; the Hogsmeade residents had just begun to refer to it as that.  "It's a bit small."

     "No," Sirius said, growing more excited by the second.  "Don't you see? If we can turn into animals big enough to control Remus, than we can leave the Shrieking Shack!"

     A shocked silence.  Then Remus exploded-

     "Are you insane?! What if you lose me?"

     "We won't," said Sirius confidently, flipping through the book.  "We can turn into any kind of animal! An elephant! A rhinoceros! A giant squid!"

     "Oh yeah, that's really going to be useful," said Remus sarcastically.  "Sirius, do you have any idea how much trouble we can get into?"

     "Only if we get caught," replied Sirius, grinning. 

     "Does the word 'illegal' ring a bell with you?" Remus said angrily. 

     "Only if we get caught."

    "Remus, calm down for a minute, okay?" James broke in.  "Sirius, you might have a good idea here." He turned the book to face him and began to skim through it.  "Remus, think about it.  We can go all over Hogsmeade and Hogwarts."

     Peter spoke for the first time.  "I – I think Remus is right.  What if we get caught?"

     "We won't get caught." There was a glint in Sirius' eye that was only seen whenever they were up to mischief.  "It's not like we're doing it every night.  Just once a month."

     "It will take a lot of work," David said slowly, moving behind James and carefully turning the pages. 

     "Is anyone listening to Peter and me?" Remus asked desperately. 

     David looked up.  "Remus, don't you get it?" he asked quietly.  "If we become Animagi, your nights can become less of a nightmare.  We're doing this for you."

     Remus couldn't speak.  He understood, and was overwhelmed.  For them to make such a sacrifice – take such a risk – was far beyond everything he had ever dared hope for. 

     "But-" Peter protested. 

     "Oh, Peter, grow up!" Sirius snapped. 

     "Either you're with us or you're not," James said, looking straight at him.  "This is for Remus.  Are you going to help?"

     Peter swallowed, looking at each of his idols nervously.  He had to.  He couldn't _not_ stick with them.  Peter took a deep breath.  "Count me in," he said, as determinedly as he was able to. 

     The next night, the boys told Lily, Rose, and Mary to stay in the common room until they were alone.  At last it was only the eight of them, and the boys shared their secret, asking them if they wanted to become Animagi too.  Lily said no. 

     "I'm sorry, Remus," she apologized, "but Anetka and Nicki have this perfect image of us, and I don't want to shatter it.  Plus, it's just too dangerous."

     "It's alright, Lily," Remus assured her.  "I wasn't expecting you to."

     As they spoke, Mary was leaning over_ One, Two, Three, Animagi! _like a starved person would lean over a plate of food they cannot eat.  Lily saw the look on her face, and touched her shoulder. 

     "Mary," she promised, "the second you become of age, I will personally inform the Ministry of Magic that you wish to become an Animagi."

     Mary smiled shakily.  "Okay," she sighed.  "But doesn't it have a sort of appeal to you to become one in secret, when nobody knows?"

     Lily tilted her head.  "Yes, it does.  But going to Azkaban for being an illegal Animagi does not."

     "We aren't going to prison!" Sirius protested. 

     "You will if you get caught," Lily warned. 

     "We're not going to get caught," James said firmly. 

     "You better not," said Rose. 

     "You'll be the convicts Anetka always says you are," Lily laughed. 

     Gryffindor won the House Cup again that year, despite having the Quidditch Cup fall, by a very narrow margin, into the smug hands of Slytherin.  The boys had been heartbroken by their defeat in Quidditch, while it was all Snape could do to keep from laughing in their faces every time he saw then.  The enmity between them had grown at an alarming rate the past year, supposedly because of Quidditch.  Snape had tried out for Seeker on his own team, but had fallen a few seconds short to a fifth year.  After that, any confrontations between Snape and James, David, or Sirius usually had disastrous results.  Lily and Rose never partook in these fights, but watched from the sidelines – as they had the first time – with wide eyes.  Mary, however, threw herself into the ranks of James, David, Sirius, and Peter with such fervor that it wasn't long before Snape counted her to be as much of an enemy as any of the boys.  Her older sisters didn't worry about Mary fighting this knowledgeable twelve (and before long, thirteen)-year-old.  She could handle herself. 

     For one reason or another (Lily and Rose suspected it was all the Animagi work the boys had been doing) James had inched behind on his schoolwork, so Lily was titled top of her year.  When the girls got home, Anetka and Nicki went crazy over Lily, and celebrated for the entire month of June.  She had turned thirteen in early May, and her parents were very proud of their teenage witch.  Lily, as usual, was a bit embarrassed of all the attention doted on her and none to her three other sisters.  Rose and Mary, as usual, didn't care.  Petunia, as usual, was furious.


	7. Book Four: An Interesting Incident

**Book Four – An Interesting Incident**

     At the beginning of July, Lily decided to take advantage of Nicki's indulgence. 

     "Nicki," she said sweetly, coming to him one morning, "I was wondering if perhaps I can invite some friends over Saturday." 

     He smiled at his daughter, falling in love all over again with her green eyes. "Sure. Who do you want to invite? Nicole and Alice?" 

     She hesitated, and then plunged ahead. "Actually, Nicki, I was thinking more about James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter." 

     The smile disappeared. "Lily, why can't you invite some of your girl friends over?" 

     "Because, Nicki, the boys are my friends too!" Lily pleaded. She knew exactly what to say to win; all that mattered was the right phrasing. "They aren't perverts or anything like that. And you used to let me invite my boy friends from primary school over all the time." 

     "I know, princess, but then you were just a girl. Now you're a beautiful teenager, and things are different." 

     "Nicki, that's exactly why I want them to come!" exclaimed Lily. "So you can really get to know them, and you won't worry about me being at school all year long with them." 

     Nicki pondered this. His daughter recognized it as a sign she was winning. 

     He sighed. "All right. Just for one day." 

     "Thank you, Nicki!" Lily hugged him. As she raced upstairs, Nicki made a mental note to enroll Mary in an extra karate class. 

     On Saturday, the five boys arrived in the fireplace. It was the best day of the summer. Lily, Rose, and Mary made a chocolate pie, and then had fun watching the boys devour it. 

     Nicki did indeed get to know his daughters' friends better. Rose had instructed them in the invitation letter to not do anything weird (she underlined that several times in Sirius' letter) in front of her father, and they were surprisingly compliant. 

     Anetka and her magic fascinated all of the visitors. They knew Rose and Mary regularly practiced Practical Magic, but it astounded them that Anetka didn't even own a wand, yet she managed the entire household with magic. She demonstrated by snapping her fingers once, every light in the house went off, and again, and they turned back on. 

     Petunia was another story. The boys knew Mary was very much like Lily and Rose, and they weren't even biologically related, so they expected Petunia, albeit a Muggle, to be as nice as her younger sisters. They were rapidly proven wrong. This was the scene: 

     Remus was the last one to arrive. The five boys stood nervously in the living room as Lily, Rose, and Mary greeted them, when a tall blond appeared at the bottom of the stairs. 

     Petunia was going to be fourteen in a little over a month. She wasn't exactly ugly, but definitely not as pretty as her younger sisters. She had a few inches on Rose, who was the tallest of the three younger. No one knew at school that she wasn't an only child. Now she had come downstairs planning to get a drink and place a call to her friend. But instead there were five boys and her freak sisters standing in the living room. _Oh, yeah_. Nicki had told her that she some of her sisters' friends were coming over. 

     There was a pair of twins, and one of them stuck out his hand with a smile. "Hi. I'm James Potter. You must be Lily and Rose's sister." 

     Petunia drew back, leaving James with his hand hanging. Rose looked embarrassed and Mary shot her a look. James awkwardly lowered his hand. Lily tried to clear the tension. 

     "Petunia, these are our friends. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, David Potter, and, as you know, James Potter. Boys, this is our oldest sister Petunia." 

     Petunia clapped her hands together once. "Terrific. Tell Anetka I'm at the library, okay?" And before anyone could say anything, she had walked out. 

     For lunch they ate in the Evans' tree house, some of them inside it, some of them outside on the branches. Lily, Rose, and Mary used Practical Magic so none of the glasses or dishes would fall to the ground. 

     But evening did arrive, and the boys left, leaving the girls to themselves for the rest of the summer. 

     The third year began. Mary joined the Quidditch team as a Beater after Nicole retired, declaring it was too much for her. The practices and then the games went very well. James, David, Sirius, and Mary became obsessed with the sport. The Animagi research was going very nicely. Lily and Rose were helping out, even though they weren't trying to become ones. 

     The weeks, then the months whizzed past. The girls went home for Christmas, but the boys decided to stake it out at Hogwarts. When the sisters came back, they found James, David, and Sirius in the hospital wing, badly hexed, and Remus shaking his head over them. The only thing Sirius would say was, 

     "Snape looks worse." 

     But Lily was secretly impressed that Snape, single-handedly, managed to inflict the damage he did. 

     In March, a rather interesting and definitely notable occurrence took place, one that no one forgot quickly. 

     James, David, Sirius, Peter, Lily, and Rose were walking from the library. They had just begun to walk down a staircase when all of them stopped, seeing who was coming up. 

     Snape. 

     Sirius, who was at the front of the group, glared at him. Snape was loaded down with half a dozen books and rolls of parchment, yet he managed to shift it all so his wand hand was free. The enemies glared at each other. 

     "Get out of our way, Snape," James called. 

     "I was coming up first. You move," Snape shot back. Sirius stared down at him. Even though Sirius was a step higher, Snape didn't even blink. 

     "Can you count? You're outnumbered," Sirius scoffed. 

     "That's never stopped me before, has it?" Snape smirked. 

     The humiliation of Christmas all flew back at Sirius. Now he was mad. "So what are you going to do?" he nearly snarled. 

     Snape's hand hovered over his pocket where his wand resided. But he never expected Black to do what he did next. 

     Sirius shoved him. Hard. Snape, caught completely off guard, fell backwards down the stairs and onto the landing, his books, parchment, and quills flying everywhere. 

     The boys burst into laughter. Face burning, Snape scrambled up, trying to pick up his things and find his wand so he could curse the hell out of all of them. 

     But he had barely reached for the first book when Lily slipped past James and Sirius, down the stairs, to where he was. She began to collect his things. 

     Her friends stopped laughing instantly. Snape, not wanting to have to have a Muggle-born girl help him, muttered, 

     "No - its okay - I've got it-" but she shook her head and kept picking the books up. 

     Rose stood there for a moment, surprised, and then hurried down to help her sister. The boys only gawked. 

     Rose finished first. She shoved the papers and quills into Snape's hands without looking at him and quickly rejoined her friends. 

     Lily and Snape straightened up together. For the first time Lily looked at him. She gave him a tiny smile as she handed him the books, then ascended back up the stairs. 

     When she reached the stairs above Sirius' - she was short for thirteen - Lily pulled Sirius down to her level and hissed something in his ear. Snape couldn't imagine what she said to him, but it left him looking slightly abashed. 

     "Come on," Sirius muttered, and the seven friends found an alternative stairway. 

     The last game of the season James finished with a spectacular dive. The Quidditch Cup was grudgingly handed over to Gryffindor. 

     When Lily was told James was top of her year, she almost cried. She really did. 

     "I got cocky!" she wailed to a sympathetic Rose. "It was the irony gods! I should have worked harder...." But after that, she made a vow: _Next year I'll be top of my year or I'll die trying. I don't care what it costs me. ___

     It was the stupidest promise she ever made. 

     But Lily thrived under competition. She always wanted to be best in the things that were important to her, and academics were definitely important to her. She had just turned fourteen, and she decided to make it a major goal. 

     The summer slipped past. The girls spent another brief visit at Sirius', and Nicki finally gained trust in their friends. 


	8. Book Five: Romance and Allusions

**Book Five - Fourth Year Romance and Allusions**

**_Part One_**__

     Petunia was changing. She celebrated her fifteenth birthday, then, one morning, right out of the blue, announced she had a boyfriend. Everyone was caught off guard. Nicki asked if perhaps he could meet him, and Petunia consented. Her only condition was that her family did whatever it took to keep him from discovering that they were...abnormal. Lily, Rose, and Mary were nearly hidden at the top of the stairs when he arrived. Petunia's new boyfriend was a rather obese boy named Vernon Dursley. As the witches listened to the conversation that followed, they grew more and more disbelieving. What on earth could possibly attract Petunia to this mound of blubber? They didn't understand. Whatever it was that Petunia liked about Vernon, there had to be a lot of it, because for the rest of the summer Vernon, Vernon, Vernon was all that Petunia ever talked about. It drove her sisters half-mad. They positively ran through the barrier on September 1st.

     At school, they noticed something else was different too. Not anything they could quite put their finger on, but it was subtler, not as obvious as a sister's irritating boyfriend always wandering around in the background. And it seemed to be in several different areas.

     For one thing, Lily and Rose were becoming more and more distant with Alice and Nicole. There were no hard feelings between the two groups, but they were simply realizing they had little in common, and while the sisters were found in the company of James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, Alice and Nicole were making friends with a clan of Ravenclaw girls. Another thing was that boys, boys Lily had probably not even said half a dozen words to, were suddenly asking her out. She was a bit embarrassed by this, but as it soon began to occur more frequently, she became puzzled.

     "Why?" she asked Rose, once when they were alone. "I don't understand. Why would they ask me out?"

     "Because," Rose exclaimed, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, "you're the prettiest girl in our year!"

     "I am not. That's Alice or you."

     Rose shook her head. A similar pattern was happening to herself, though on a smaller scale, and Lily got much more attention. Rose wasn't jealous. She had always been in her older sister's shadow, even at home, but she loved Lily too much to care.

     "Look," she sighed, levitating a mirror on the vanity over to the bed they were sitting on. Rose held it up so Lily could clearly see her reflection. "Auburn hair, bright green eyes, top of her year - how can they not like you?"

     Lily stared into the mirror, trying to see if what her sister was saying was true.

     "Smile," Rose whispered. Lily obeyed, giving the flash of white teeth she always did without thinking. She was startled with the result. _I am pretty, _she realized. It was a new thought for her. Lily was used to complete strangers complimenting her on the color of her hair, and of course she expected her parents to tell her she was beautiful, but not until now did she face the fact herself. She was surprised and a bit frightened. Rose lowered the mirror, pleased that her mission was accomplished. Lily looked at her sister and said the first thing that came to her mind.

     "You're just as pretty."

     Rose smiled. "Perhaps," she said, though it was obvious she didn't think so. Lily grabbed the mirror and lifted it for Rose.

     "Now you look," Lily commanded. Rose did so, even smiling, but the only thought that came to her mind was, _So? Lily will always be prettier than me. _It wasn't bitter, just a matter-of-fact. And she knew it was true.

     Lily could see that Rose wasn't acknowledging her own beauty, and she let the mirror drop, disappointed.

     "Lily, why didn't you say yes to any of the boys who asked you out?" Rose asked, curious.

     Lily always told her everything. After all, if she couldn't Rose, who could she? And they were so close it was like she was a part of her, which was why it was so hard for her not to tell Rose about Remus back in her first year.

     "I don't know," she said slowly, fiddling with the sheet, "I don't have anything against them, but...I didn't know any of them. One I wasn't even sure I knew his name! And...I didn't really feel it was right," she said, looking anxiously up to her sister, "to say yes and become a couple and kiss and everything, when I don't really like them! You know what I mean?"

     Rose nodded, thinking that whoever finally got her sister would be very lucky.

     "I don't even know why they asked me!" Lily finished, bewildered by that simple, obvious fact.

     Rose clamped her hands on her sister's shoulders, saying firmly, "You're pretty. Why can't you accept it?"

     Lily grabbed Rose's shoulders, echoing, "You're pretty. Why can't _you_ accept it?"

     Second, the tension between James, David, and Sirius (Remus was no longer as involved as he had been, and Peter never spoke in front of Snape, but cringed behind Sirius or James) and Snape was growing much more intense. Lily and Rose never stepped forth on either side again.

     Lily was getting worried as she watched her friends fight Snape. She knew that wars began this way; just little fights between kids, but as they grew, so did the hatred and seriousness of their enmity. She also knew better than to try and tell anyone this, as it would be laughed at and flippantly dismissed.

     But this year - it was getting meaner. Each time an act was done, the other side retaliated much worse ("side" was a loose term, seeing there was only one of Snape and three of James, Sirius, and David). Back and forth, back and forth they went. Lily became more and more impressed at how well Snape was battling against the odds. And she was ceasing to see him as such an evil person as her friends were insisting he was. After all, Snape was only giving as good as he was getting.

     One weekend she and Rose came down to the common room to find James, David, Sirius, Peter, and Mary clustered at a table with a jug of orange juice, several glasses, and a plate of toast at one end. James waved both of them over, and Mary magically filled two glasses and levitated them, along with a couple of slices of toast, toward her sisters.

     "More Animagi work?" Rose inquired, leaning over the papers they were huddled around.

     "Oh no," Sirius said. The girls recognized the glint in his eye. "This, my girl, is for our dear friend Snape."

     "We have to get him back for what he did to us last week," James said firmly.

     "I thought it was funny," Lily said, smiling as she remembered how the staircase James, David, Sirius, and Peter had been walking on had suddenly transformed into a greased slide.

     "Lil, whose side are you on?" Sirius snapped.

     "Yours, yours, do you even need to ask?" she sighed.

     "Listen," David whispered, even though they were the only ones there, "this is going to be the ultimate. After we do this, he will never mess with this again."

_     I doubt it,_ Lily thought acidly. _He'll just find something worse to get you with. _

     "What is it?" asked Rose, curious.

     "Well," Sirius began in a confidential tone, "this is how it goes. We, on Wednesday, will put a line across the floor in front of the doors of the Great Hall. It will be set up that the line can recognize any student by his shoe, and when Severus Snape crosses over it, it's set to immediately transform him into a small, furry, white, bunny rabbit." James, David, and Mary collapsed in laughter. Sirius fought for control as he continued. "But that's not the worst - or should I say best? - of it. See, it will turn his body into a rabbit. But his robes-" Sirius lost it. He put his head on the table, pounding his fist as he shook with laughter. "His robes-"

     "Oh no," Rose said incredulously, shaking her head. "You don't mean..."

     "Let me finish," he gasped. "His robes will turn into a separate bunny rabbit. After fifteen seconds, he will turn back into himself. But his robes won't!"

     "Oh my word." Rose put a hand to her mouth. "Do you mean...all his clothes?"

     "Except for hisunderpants," James quickly clarified. "We're not that sick."

     "Mary," Rose turned to her. "You're agreeing to this?"

     "She's _helping!" _Sirius exclaimed. "She's going to give the robes-rabbit a little...push away from Snape. Just to make it interesting."

     "It's mean," Mary admitted, giggling. "I know it's mean. But he deserves it."

     Lily stared. She couldn't believe this. This...it was over the limit. They had crossed the line. Snape - she shuddered to think what he would do in retaliation. And Mary was wrong. No one deserved that.

     "You won't tell, will you?" David asked anxiously.

     Rose blew out her breath. "No. But - I wish you wouldn't. This is really wrong."

     "Go on, Rose. It will be funny!" Sirius insisted.

     "What if you get caught?" she asked nervously.

     "Line's untraceable," David said promptly. "And it wears off in an hour, anyway."

     "Lily! You will keep it a secret, right?" James said sharply.

     Lily nodded, her lips pressed together.

     "I don't like that," Sirius said suspiciously. "Lil..."

     "I'm not going to. You know that," she said quietly.

     The boys did know that. They also knew when Lily said she wasn't going to tell, she wouldn't.

     Wednesday was three days from now. Monday passed all too quickly, but that night Lily couldn't sleep. Long after Rose, Alice, and Nicole fell into a deep slumber, Lily stood in front of the window, thinking hard.

     Tuesday they had Potions last hour with the Slytherins, as usual. All through the lesson on antidotes Lily kept glancing toward the unsuspecting Snape. Potions was his best class, and he was already finished and snickering as he lazily watched his classmates struggle.

     Suddenly, it hit Lily what she had to do. She nonchalantly took out a piece of parchment, her quill, and an inkwell of green ink. After a moment of thought, she carefully wrote in handwriting as different from her usual as she could manage:

_     If you value your respect, dignity, and reputation, then please do not enter the Great Hall tomorrow morning! Go to the portrait of fruit near the entrance hall, down the Hufflepuff corridor, and tickle the pear. It will open, and go down to the kitchens. The house-elves will get you something. Just don't enter the Great Hall! _

     Leaving it unsigned, Lily tore it off from the roll of parchment, folded it in half twice, and knocked it to the floor. She guided it with her eyes through the maze of cauldrons and feet, then up to Snape's desk. She paused, waiting until he glanced away, then she quickly tucked it between the pages of his book, where it was sticking out so he couldn't miss it.

     No one saw her.

     Snape reached for his book, and then froze when he saw the bit of paper. Lily yanked her hair out from its loose ponytail so it screened her face, but she could still watch him. He slowly unfolded it and read the message, then looked up sharply and scanned the room. Lily was grateful he couldn't see her face. Snape, after a moment, pushed it into his robe pocket.

     Lily went back to stirring her potion. _You've done all you can, _she reminded herself. _Now it's up to him to follow your advice._

     The next morning all of them were on pins and needles, watching the door with bated breath.

     But students came and left and none of them were Snape. Finally the bell rang for their first class, and Snape was nowhere to be seen.

     The boys were furious, Sirius most of all.

     "Of all the mornings to be gone!" he nearly shouted.

     "Maybe he's sick," murmured Lily, trying to conceal a smile.

     But he wasn't. As they headed for Charms, they passed a group of Slytherins, Snape at the front. He gave them all a very evil, knowing smirk as he breezed past.

     "He knew!" David exploded as soon as they were out of earshot. "Did you see that look he had on his face? I don't know how he knew, but he did!"

     "It's okay," James calmed him. "We'll do it again tomorrow."

     Lily snapped. She had been walking slightly ahead of them so her expression wouldn't give her away, but at James's words she whirled around.

     "James Potter! If you do, I swear I'll - I'll tell Professor McGonagall who it was!"

     They stopped and stared at the fourteen-year-old redhead.

     "You wouldn't," said Sirius incredulously.

     "Oh yes, I would! Try me," she threatened.

     "No," said Remus hastily. He turned to his friends. "Hey, she's serious. Forget it."

     Surprisingly, they did.

     The boys managed to convince Lily, Rose, and Mary to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas, and in the end, they were glad they listened. It turned out that it was only the seven of them (Peter's mother threatened him) in all of Gryffindor, which meant they could roam the entire Tower unchecked. They no longer cared about boys' and girls' dorms, and by the time the majority of the student body had returned, they knew one side as well as the other. They got their own troop of house-elves to regularly bring them hot cocoa and marshmallows for toasting. Many nights all seven of them fell asleep in the common room, side by side.

     Lily and Rose wished those days could last forever. They were just fourteen (more or less), carefree, perfectly content and happy. Nothing was bothering them - life really was perfect.

     Christmas morning the three sisters dashed up to the boys' dorm. After a good round of "Merry Christmas's," they settled down to the real business of Christmas: opening presents. Just as Lily, Rose, and Mary were admiring the matching pairs of silver earrings each of them had gotten, a scream of delight came from the bed Sirius and James were sitting on.

     "I got it! I got it!" James leaped up, waving a large piece of silvery cloth.

     "You got it?" David whispered, raising an identical silver cloth. "I got it!"

     "What?" James stopped, mid-wave, and turned to his brother.

     "Got what? What did you get?" Sirius questioned.

     "Dad's invisibility cloak!" James said impatiently. "But - I always thought he only had one - he said that one day he would hand it down to us - it's about time-"

     "An invisibility cloak!" breathed Mary, touching the bottom of David's almost reverently. All three of the girls had hurried over at James's first outburst.

     "But he didn't say he had two!" David repeated.

     "It came with a letter," Sirius announced, lifting out a folded sheet of parchment from James's overturned box. James took it and read out loud:

     "_Dear James and David,_

_             I suppose you are surprised that you each get a cloak. Well, your mother convinced me that I couldn't give something as useful as an invisibility cloak just to one of my sons, but each. All I have to say is that neither of you are getting another present for the next five years. Seriously though, this does include your birthday present tomorrow. Merry Christmas, Dad_."

     For the rest of vacation they certainly did have fun. Sirius and Remus used them as much as James and David did, and together the four of them trained Mary to fight someone she could not see. They stopped when she nearly broke Sirius's nose. Lily and Rose quickly tired of the boys' jokes on them, and put an end to all against them with a few good spells researched in the library.

     Much to their disappointment, the rest of Gryffindor Tower did return, and the seven best friends reluctantly surrendered the use of the Tower.

Classes resumed, and with it, Lily's determination to be the best. James had realized what exactly her goal was, and he wasn't about to let her achieve it without trouble. But when Lily was determined, she was determined.

     One night she was working in the library on Transfiguration homework. James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were working on her left on their Animagi work. Unknown to them all, someone else was there.

     Severus Snape stood in the shadows in front of Lily, watching her. He knew that from where he was, between the aisles of the bookshelves, no one could see him, yet he could see all of them. That was the way he liked it.

     Lily, meanwhile, was having trouble. Professor McGonagall requested a drawing of the before and after stages of a Switching Spell. Drawing was definitely not Lily's forte, and she had pleaded her case to the Professor after class.

     "Do your best, Miss Evans," she had said crisply. But, perhaps remembering that Lily had always been a star pupil, she added, "It doesn't have to be perfect. I grade by how hard a student tries."

     Now Lily looked in despair at the jumble of lines that was supposed to represent a platypus. She knew exactly what it was supposed to look like, but for one reason or another, she couldn't form the image on paper. It looked more like a tree. Grabbing her wand, she erased it for the fourteenth time and made yet another attempt.

     A few seconds later, Lily evaluated her platypus. Now it resembled a house-elf. She threw her quill across the table, crying out, "This isn't working very well!"

     Her friends looked up sympathetically, and Sirius started toward her, preparing to offer his help. But something happened that surprised them all.

     Snape stepped forward, saying quietly, "I can help."

     For a moment they stared at him, and then Sirius laughed.

     "You?" he said incredulously. "What makes you think she'll let _you_ help her? Lil, don't worry. I'll help."

     Snape opened his mouth to make a cutting retort, but he was startled when Lily made her own reply.

     "Sorry Sirius, but he spoke first. But he'll regret it soon enough," she added, waving her hand for a chair from another table to zoom next to hers as she cleared a spot for him. "I'm utterly hopeless when it comes to drawing."

     "I'll see," said Snape, walking around the table to accept the offered seat as Lily began to explain to him how she was trying to draw a platypus and a plate.

     Sirius stood, shocked, for a second, then turned back to his friends. "Did you see that?" he whispered. "She took him over me!"

     "What was that?" muttered David.

     "I have no clue," Remus said, shaking his head.

     "What the..." James said suddenly, trailing off. The boys looked back just as Snape was saying,

     "No, no-" and he put his hand over Lily's, correcting whatever she was trying to do. Peter's mouth fell open. Lily quickly withdrew her hand as soon as he was finished demonstrating.

     "I'll take care of it," Sirius said impulsively, and he jauntily walked in front of Lily and Snape's table.

     "Hello," he said brightly, leaning on the table. He went straight to the point. "Snape, I thought it might interest you to know that Lil here is actually Muggle-born."

     Lily felt the heat rise in her cheeks. What did Sirius think he was doing? Why did he have to ruin it when things were going so smoothly?

     Snape didn't even blink, as though he had known that all along, though really he hadn't. But he just turned to the redhead next to him with a bored expression and inquired, slightly lifting his eyebrows, "I'm surprised. I was under the impression he was your friend?"

     "He is," Lily said, glaring at Sirius.

     "Then why does that matter to him so much, that he feels he has to inform anyone that begins to have the slightest contact with you?"

     Sirius was stupefied. That was the last reaction he expected. Lily, however, burst into laughter.

     "Sirius, you have to admit you deserved that one!" she said, smiling. He flushed darkly and stalked away. For the rest of the time Snape and Lily worked together, the five boys only glowered at them from their aisle, until finally they were finished and he left Lily, who was looking very pleased with her platypus and plate.

     "What were you thinking?" James reproached as they exited the library. "He's our worst enemy!"

     "Correction," Lily said, spinning around to walk backwards as she faced them. "He's _your _worst enemy. Prior to tonight we've never spoken to each other, which hardly defines us as worst enemies."

     "Lil, how could you humiliate me like that?" Sirius cut in angrily.

     "I did not humiliate you. You humiliated yourself," she retorted.

     David started to continue the argument from his side, but suddenly Lily tripped and crashed into a suit of armor. Quickly the boys helped her up, apologizing to the indignant suit of armor.

     "Lil, how many times in your life have you fallen down?" said Sirius, exasperated.

     "A lot," she admitted. Lily was actually a bit of a klutz. Most of the stairs in Hogwarts she had fallen down at least once. If there was a hole in a field, her foot was bound to find it and twist her ankle. But this clumsiness did not extend to dancing, as she proved Christmas Eve to her friends.

     Much to Lily's relief, the incident caused the boys to forget their complaint.

     Lily observed that something was shifting between Rose and David. She first noticed it one typical day in Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall had been asked by Professor Dumbledore to step outside for a few minutes, and the boys decided to be themselves.

     "David," cried James excitedly, "let's switch seats!" The identical twins leaped up and raced to each other's desks. It wasn't a novel trick, but they hadn't employed it in nearly a year, so they expected her to be duly deceived.

     "Remus," Sirius said impulsively, "let's switch seats too!" Remus decided to indulge him, and the boys switched seats and jackets, propping their bags up in front of their faces.

     Lily and Rose laughed softly. Sirius and Remus looked nothing alike, and the idea of them fooling McGonagall by just switching jackets and seats was so ludicrous it was funny.

     When Professor McGonagall finally returned, she paused, and then snapped irritably, "Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin return to your seats."

     "Great Merlin!" Sirius exclaimed. "She noticed!" As he handed Remus his jacket, he added mischievously, "But Professor, what about James and David?"

     "Mr. Potters, unless your wish is detention for a week-"

     There was a mad scramble, which finally resulted in James and David in their correct places.

     "Damn it, Sirius, we could have gotten away with it!" James whispered. Sirius shrugged, still grinning.

     "This isn't going to work, is it?" muttered McGonagall, evaluating the arrangement.

     Presently it was:

     Lily-Peter-James

     David-Alice-Sirius

     Nicole-Rose-Remus

     McGonagall pondered this for a moment, then switched Sirius and Peter. No, that wouldn't work at all; she couldn't have Black and Potter next to each other. So she tried having Sirius and Lily trade places. Perhaps she could be a peacemaker between the two. Oh, the back row is perfect, but the front rows needed more work.

     After nearly ten minutes of shuffling (the boys were beginning to refer to it as "musical chairs") McGonagall was sure she had it. The back row was still Sirius-Lily-James, but the middle row had become Alice-David-Nicole, and the first row was Peter-Rose-Remus. There. No - one more thing.

     "Mr. Pettigrew and Mr. David Potter, switch."

     As David swung his bag forward, it hit Rose's, and all of her quills, inkwells, and books were scattered across the floor.

     Rose and David both dropped to their knees to pick the mess up, and when they finally straightened, Lily noticed that both of their faces were bright red. Lily raised her eyebrows and glanced at Remus, who was looking amused.

     After that, things were definitely different between Rose and David. The simple things, like the habitual seating arrangement they had in the Great Hall, weren't so simple anymore. For years the eight friends would sit with Mary-Rose-Lily-Sirius on one side, and directly across from them would be Peter-David-James-Remus. Yet one day Rose suddenly realized, _I'm sitting across from David! _

     Nearly every night now Rose would come to Lily's bed and they would talk for hours. Lily put a charm on the curtains so no sound could pass through them, which meant they could talk and giggle as loudly as they wanted to.

     Rose admitted she had a crush on David. Lily had actually been expecting this confession for some time, and now she told Rose not to worry about it.

     "He feels the same way. I can tell," she encouraged her. "He hasn't done anything yet only because he's shy."

     "You really think so?" Rose asked uncertainly.

     "Positive. And I'll talk to either Remus or James about it - they can give David a hint."

     Her eyes widened. "Really? I mean - you know what to say, right?"

     "Don't worry, Rose. I'm your sister; I'm not going to ruin your life."

     The next day Lily pulled Remus aside. He confirmed her suspicions of David's feelings, and he promised to talk to him.

     It was near the end of April. One Saturday night everyone except David and Rose conveniently slipped out. A little while later, Rose dashed into her dorm and jumped onto Lily's bed.

     "He did it!" she practically squealed. "He asked me to be his girlfriend!"

     Lily feigned surprise. "Well, whatever did you say?"

     Lily's fifteenth birthday fell on a Saturday. It was also a Hogsmeade visit. To celebrate, James and David insisted on buying everything she wanted.

     Later, Lily, Rose, and Remus walked up to the wooden fence around the Shrieking Shack.

     "Bad memories, Remus?" Rose asked.

     "Not from the outside," he replied, smiling slightly. "If we were on the inside, it would be a different story entirely."

     Lily was walking around the perimeter of the fence, and suddenly she turned and waved for Remus and Rose to join her.  As they approached, she pointed to a large cave in a mountain near the end of the street.

     "Let's go there," she said impulsively. Remus shrugged, and Rose, as usual, followed her sister.

     "Be careful," Remus warned Lily as they ascended the steep boulders that led to the cave.

     "I am," she said, cautiously stepping from one stone to the next.

     At last they reached the top, and the three friends sat down next to each other at the mouth of the cave. They were quiet for a few minutes, looking over all of Hogsmeade. Then Rose turned to Lily.

     "Having a good birthday?"

     Lily nodded, a small smile on her lips and a glazed look in her eyes. Finally she whispered, "Where do you think we'll all be in ten years?"

     "Let me answer that," Rose quickly. "Well, David and I will be married and raising our children. Remus" -she squinted at him- "you will probably be a teacher. Lily - I don't know. I guess you'll be married to some lucky guy too, though I'm not sure to whom, and James will be on the national Quidditch team. Sirius will either be shot or in prison" – Remus laughed, never dreaming that in ten years he would be look back on her words with a chill - "and Mary will be part of the WWU" - (Witches and Wizards Undercover) - "taking out terrorists."

     "Like that new group in Albania?" Lily asked, leaning back.

     "Uh-huh. Oh, and we'll all be living in David's mansion."

     "You forgot Peter," Lily reminded her. Remus rolled his eyes.

     "Peter will be receiving mental help at St. Mungo's."

     Lily and Rose couldn't help but laugh.

     Not twenty feet away, there was a fissure where Sirius would be living in just over twenty years.


	9. Part Two of Book Five

**_Part Two_**

    Lily was growing more and more serious about her schoolwork. Exams were coming up alarmingly fast, and her obsession with being top of her year was getting ridiculous. She checked out dozens of books, making out review sheets for each, which she pleaded with her friends to quiz her on at every available moment.

     The "ridiculous" aspect was quickly becoming "dangerous". Lily read well into the early hours, and every lunch hour was spent in the library. At first they weren't too worried, she made up the lost meal with dinner and breakfast, but then those meals only became a bite or two.

     She was losing weight - a lot of it. Lily had always been underweight, and this loss was not good. Each of her friends tried to talk to her, but she brushed them off, promising to do whatever they wanted after exams. Not even Rose could get through to her.

     Teachers were beginning to notice the changes too. One day Professor McGonagall told her to stay after class.

     "Miss Evans, are you sure you're feeling well? Are you getting enough sleep?" she inquired anxiously.

     Lily nodded absentmindedly, distractedly thinking of James's ungodly amount of talent in this class. "Professor, is there any extra credit I can do?"

     McGonagall stared. "Miss Evans, I really think you are working too hard. Why don't you take a day off to relax?"

     "I don't think I can do that, Professor."

     Exams were two weeks away. Lily had sunk into a state where she snapped at anyone who spoke to her except for her sisters and teachers, and every waking moment was spent with either a book or review sheet.

     One night she and the boys were in the library. Lily was frantically searching for a Herbology book, and James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were doing Animagi work.

     Lily was strained, to say the least. She was feeling a bit dizzy, and it took he eyes a few seconds to focus on the titles on the books. But where was it? She had actually seen it here a few days ago, she was sure it had the information she needed.

     "Where is it?" she muttered out loud, running her fingers over the spines. "Oh, come on, it has to be here!"

     Snape was in the aisle next to her, and he heard her wails. He moved to her aisle, trying to discern her trouble.

     "Are you all right?" he asked, staring. She was incredibly thin, and her eyes had a glossy look to them. She was wearing a shirt that two months ago had been a little tight on her. Now it hung in loose folds.

     "Yes, yes, I'm fine," she replied, barely noticing and not caring who she was talking to.

     "You don't look fine," he objected, still staring.

     "That doesn't really matter right now! I've got to find this book!"

     "Actually, it could matter a lot. When was the last time you ate?"

     Lily stopped, distracted. "Er...yesterday morning. Half a muffin."

_     "What?" _

     She held up her hands. "I'm going to eat again after exams, okay? But-" she broke off. The bookcase in front of her suddenly started to swing back and forth, along with everything else. Panicking, she clutched at Snape's arm.

     "What's wrong?" he questioned, now really concerned.

     Meanwhile Sirius and James had heard the voices and were slowly approaching. As Lily and Snape came into sight, they saw Snape grab Lily's arm just as she crumpled to the ground.

     "What did you do to her?" shouted Sirius, dashing forward.

     Snape, who had fallen by the unconscious girl's side, looked up in anger. "What did _I_ do? _You're_ the ones who let her starve herself!"

     Remus, David, and Peter had run up to see what all the shouting was about, and upon seeing the sight Peter gasped, Remus immediately dropped to his knees to check her pulse, and David demanded,

     "What happened?"

     "I don't know! I was just talking to her and she collapsed!" Snape snapped. Sirius began to shake her.

     "Lil! Come on, wake up! Lil! _Lily!"_

     But Lily did not show any signs of life: not a flutter of the eyelashes or a twitch.

     "How's her pulse?" Snape asked, glancing at Remus.

     "Weak. But the good thing is that she has one."

     "We need to take her to the hospital wing," Sirius said with sudden decision.

     "I've got it." And before anyone could stop him, Snape scooped Lily up in his arms, one arm behind her back and one under her knees.

     "What? How about letting her friends take her?" James argued.

     "Potter, if you want to help so badly, you can carry her bag." Snape shifted her so he could carry her better and started for the doors of the library. Helpless, James grabbed Lily's bag and started after him, calling back to his friends,

     "Go to the common room and tell Rose and Mary what happened."

     The two boys walked in silence for a few minutes. Snape couldn't believe how light Lily was. He'd had homework heavier than this. He glared at Potter. How could he let her do this to herself? She was so fragile.

     James broke the silence. "If she's getting too heavy-"

     "She's not," Snape cut him off. They continued without saying anything. Potter, to his credit, pulled back the tapestries for Snape and Lily to pass.

     They were about halfway there when he began to feel her weight. Anorexic or not, she was fifteen, not five. But he didn't dare let it show. He wasn't about to hand her over to Potter. Snape shifted her again, but to his surprise, she stirred. He stopped and Potter glanced at him.

     "What?"

     Lily felt like she was coming out of a very thick fog. Her senses were very slowly returning to her. She realized she was being carried damsel-in-distress fashion. Wondering who on earth could be carrying her, she opened her eyes and focused on the face above her.

     It was Snape. Lily couldn't help it. With a shriek, she tried to roll out of his arms. Snape quickly let go of her - feet first. Breathing hard, she backed against the wall.

     "Lily!" James exclaimed, moving towards her.

     "What happened?" she asked weakly, undergoing a series of hot flashes. She bent over, placing her hands on her knees.

     "I - I remember talking to you-" She glanced at Snape.

     "You fainted," he said matter-of-factly. "I was carrying you to the hospital wing."

     "Oh," Lily whispered, starting to feel dizzy again. She closed her eyes until it passed. "Well - I'm okay now. James, can I have my bag back?"

     They gaped at her, sharing the same incredulous expression.

     "What?" Lily asked, a bit nervously. "You are James, right?" She studied him. She hadn't mistaken one twin for the other in years, but she wasn't exactly feeling like herself.

     "Yeah, but - Lily, you just fainted! Sirius was shaking you, and you didn't even blink."

     "You can't blink when you're unconscious," Snape pointed out.

     "Not now," James snapped, and then he turned back to her. "Lily, you collapsed. You need to go to the hospital wing. Look at yourself!"

     Lily hesitated, and then gave in. She felt too tired to argue. "Okay. I'll go. But I can walk."

     The boys watched skeptically as she straightened and slowly took a few steps forward. Snape was ready when her legs buckled and she fell.

     They didn't say another word until they met Madam Pomfrey at the hospital.

     "What happened?" she gasped as Snape dumped the once-more unconscious Lily onto a bed.

     "Malnutrition," he said before Potter could answer. "And loss of sleep." As Madam Pomfrey tutted, Lily's eyes flickered open.

     "What - oh." She tried to sit up, but the nurse pushed her back down. Lily relented and turned to James wearily.

     "James, can you please tell my sisters that Madam Pomfrey is holding me hostage until I gain about twenty pounds? And don't-" The zealous nurse put a hand over Lily's mouth.

     "No more words. Out," she added to James and Snape.

     "When can we see her?" James challenged.

     "Wait at least twenty-four hours, and then I'll consider it. Now _go." _

     As soon as James and Snape stepped out of the hospital they headed in opposite directions. James had just turned a corner when Rose and Mary crashed into him.

     "Where is she? Where is Snape?" were the first words out of Mary's mouth.

     "Nice to know you've got your priorities straight," James retorted as he got to his feet.

     Mary took no notice of the comment. Her eyes were flashing, and she looked more dangerous than ever. "Peter said _Snape _was _carrying _her. _Where is my sister?" _

     James winced. Peter had to say that, didn't he? "It's all right. Calm down. We dropped her off at the hospital wing. She said to tell you that the nurse is keeping her until she gains some weight. But Madam Pomfrey says no visitors for at least twenty-four hours."

     Rose moaned, leaning against the wall. "Oh my God, Anetka and Nicki are going to kill me. How could I have let this happen?"

     "It's not your fault," James tried to comfort her, surprised at how close to tears she was. "We all tried to talk to her, remember? She wouldn't listen. Now she's going to be fine, you know how strict Madam Pomfrey is. Lily will be perfect health by the time she's released whether she likes it or not."

     Rose was still moaning. "It doesn't matter! My parents are going to say that I should've helped her!"

     "No, they're not," said James firmly. "I know them better than that. They're not going to blame you for something Lily did. You know that."

     Rose continued to look miserable. "I can't believe this. How could it have happened?" she repeated.

     "She's going to be fine," James said quietly. "Trust me on this, okay?"

     She just shook her head, but allowed James to lead her and Mary back to the common room.

     The next day Rose tearfully sent an owl informing Anetka and Nicki of the incident. The boys tried to break into the hospital wing during lunch hour, but Madam Pomfrey locked then out.

     That night during supper, Snape arose and left the Great Hall. No one noticed.

     At the hospital wing he paused, then knocked calmly on the door. Madam Pomfrey opened the door about a centimeter, just enough to peer suspiciously at him.

     "Yes?"

     "I was wondering if I could visit someone," Snape said offhandedly.

     "Miss Evans, I suppose?" the nurse sighed.

     Snape nodded, fully expecting to be told to come back later. To his shock, she opened the door wider and moved aside, allowing him to enter.

     "If she's asleep, don't wake her," Madam Pomfrey instructed. "You have ten minutes." She left for her office.

     Snape was stunned for a second, and then quickly moved forward to her bed.

     Lily was asleep. Her red hair was strewn all over the pillow, and she looked more at peace than she had at weeks. Snape had no desire to wake her. He cautiously sat down at the foot of her bed, watching her sleep and planning what he would say if she awoke - in every possible scenario. A few minutes passed, and he shifted his weight slightly. Lily's eyes fluttered open. Snape quickly looked up, waiting for her reaction.

     Something akin to fear flickered across her face, followed by uncertainty. She pushed herself up, running a hand over her hair in an attempt to make it not too frightful.

     Snape stood up before she could say anything and began his mentally rehearsed speech.

     "I was curious about how you were after last night, and I decided to drop by to see how you were recuperating. We were never properly introduced, were we? I'm Severus Snape. You can call me Severus."

     There was something about Lily. She would always give someone a second chance for anything as long as that person proved they were sincere and willing to try again. Unless they'd done something terrible, she would always let them try again. So when Snape was finished she took a moment to recover, then gave a tentative smile and held out her hand.

     "I'm Lily Evans. You can call me Lily." They shook hands.

     Severus sat back down on the bed, extremely pleased with himself. Step one completed. "So, how are you feeling?"

     She smiled again. "Better, actually. Madam Pomfrey is making me eat a pound of chocolate every hour, and I'm getting a lot of rest. I didn't realize how tired I really was."

     "You obviously didn't realize how necessary the intake of food was either," Severus pointed out. She laughed.

     "That wasn't on purpose, really," she responded. "I just forgot."

     "You forgot to eat?" repeated Severus, raising his eyebrows. "You're a danger to yourself when it comes to books, you know that?" She smiled in answer. "What are your parents going to think?" 

     Lily winced. "I don't want to even think about it. They'll go ballistic. But it's my sisters I'm really worried about. They will be heartbroken. I probably won't be able to get out of their sight for a month. Them and the boys."

     Snape's small smile disappeared. "You mean the people who let you starve yourself in the first place?"

     At once he wished he hadn't said that. Now she would be mad at him. But she didn't look offended. "They tried to help, but I wouldn't listen. It isn't their fault."

     "They still should have done something," Severus muttered.

     "They tried," repeated Lily. Severus quickly changed the subject.

     "Have they visited you yet?"

     "I think they tried during lunch...."

     They continued to talk about little nothings for several minutes, and then they broke off. Footsteps, voices, and laughter were sounding down the hall, coming nearer and nearer. Severus's lips tightened, but he did not move from where he sat.

     Lily glanced at him nervously. "I think that's my friends coming..."

     "So do I," Severus said icily.

     There was a pause, and then the door burst open, and Rose, Mary, Alice, Nicole, James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter flooded the room. The eager looks on their faces transformed into shocked ones as they saw the visitor sitting on Lily's bed.

     "You?" said James, taken aback. "What are _you_ doing here?"

     "What does it look like?" Severus retorted, standing up. "But I'm not going to stay here with you-" -he barely stopped himself from making an assessment that would have lost him every ounce of progress made with Lily- "people." He turned back to Lily. "Goodnight, Lily. See you tomorrow." He glided past all of them and disappeared down the corridor.

     It was all confusion after that. James and Sirius checked her chocolate for poison or hexes, while David, Remus, and Peter asked her if she was really all right. Alice and Nicole wondered about why and what he was doing there. Rose and Mary, however, held the closest examination of their older sister.

     Then Madam Pomfrey stomped out of her office, calling them all a herd of elephants and demanding some peace and order in a hospital. They quickly quieted down, and began to calmly ask Lily how she was.

     She visibly cringed when Rose told her of her letter to their parents. She knew they would not take the news calmly. And she felt guilty about Rose and Mary's reactions. Rose and she were far too close to be uncomfortable, but the certain sadness and quiet way of talking she used made Lily feel like something terrible had happened. Mary was different. She sat on the edge of the bed, not saying much and glancing up at her every now and then, just to quickly look back down at her lap. This unnerved Lily. She was thankful for all of their company, but in a way relieved when they left.

     The next day Severus called in again. During the entire visit Lily was edgy, nervous like she was trying to walk on a balance beam and every word and action she did was extremely important. But he kept it casual. When he did leave, she sank back into her pillows, feeling like she had run a very long race.

     As the days passed (Madam Pomfrey insisted on keeping her; she was determined to eliminate every possibility of a relapse), he started visiting more and more often. Lily lost her nervousness around him, and instead surprised herself by beginning to look forward to his coming around. He was a rather interesting person to talk to, never making her feel uncomfortable.

     She decided not to tell the boys he was coming by, they would probably attack him upon sight. But she did tell Rose and Mary. Mary was very worried.

     "Do you mind?" Rose asked. Lily considered this.

     "No - I guess not."

     "Then it's not a problem," Rose concluded.

     "I don't know," Mary blurted out. "He's still a Slytherin..."

     "Which is why you have to be at least a little bit careful," added Rose.

     "Oh, I am..."

     After a week Madam Pomfrey finally discharged her from the hospital - just in time for the exams. Lily faced them with a sort of calm nervousness. She did each one and didn't talk about it afterwards. Her friends did well too, except Peter, who swore again and again he failed Transfiguration, that McGonagall hated him. It had to be admitted that she had started becoming vicious toward him.

     The results arrived - Peter had indeed failed Transfiguration, and McGonagall had unsympathetically given him several extra workbooks to be completed during the vacation. Peter pleaded with James, David, and Sirius for help, and they were just about to concede when Lily and Rose rose up and gave a resounding objection. How was he ever going to learn? He would someday graduate from Hogwarts, then what would happen? The boys succumbed and Peter was left alone with his certain doom.

     When Lily, Rose, and Mary descended the steps of the Hogwarts Express on June 1st, the oldest of them was immediately pulled aside by her parents.

     "Oh my God, Lily," whispered Anetka, holding the fifteen-year-old's face between her hands before tightly hugging her.

     "Anetka!" Lily exclaimed, trying to pull herself free in some embarrassment. "I'm alright, really-" It was true that she had definitely improved since she had first been checked into the hospital, but she was still not the same girl who had gone through the barrier on September 1st not a year ago. She was still unnaturally thin, and she couldn't walk far without stopping.

     "How could you _do_ this to us?" her mother burst out, taking her by her shoulders. "When we got Rose's letter, we nearly _died_, we never expected this from you, I always thought you were brighter than that!"

     Lily glanced nervously at her surprised sisters. "What exactly did you say in that letter, Rose?"

     "This is serious, Lily," her father cut in.

     "I know, I know!" she cried, raising her hands in an effort to calm them. "I didn't starve myself on purpose, it was an accident. And now I know better, and it won't happen again. I promise."

     "It better not," Anetka muttered, hugging her again before finally turning to her younger daughters.

     That summer, for the first time in their lives, Anetka and Nicki were overprotective of Lily. Nicki offered to drive her every time she wanted to go somewhere, even if it was only a block away, and at every meal they made sure she ate every scrap of food on her plate. By the end of June, Lily felt like she was suffocating.

     Her teenage hormones were finally kicking in, and she was very aware of the changes. She hated the increasingly murderous attitude she was feeling toward her older sister, and she was fighting it as much as she could. So when Lily was tempted to run both her and her maddening boyfriend through the Muggle waste disposal a couple of times, she just ran outside and up into the thickest part of the tree with a book or two, where she read until she forgot why she had come up in the first place.


	10. Book Six: A Shocking Decision and Reacti

**Book Six – A Shocking Decision and Reactions**

**_Part One_**

     One day she and Mary were talking inside their room - the temperature had soared, and Anetka didn't want Lily to get heatstroke or sunburnt (as a redhead, she burned easily) - when Mary brought up the subject.  

     "They're really getting on your nerves, aren't they?" 

     Lily smiled guiltily.  "Yeah, they are," she admitted.  "Don't get me wrong, I love Anetka and Nicki, I really do, usually they're practically the perfect parents, but I'm fifteen now, I need some room to stretch, and they're _smothering_ me." She blew out her breath.  

     Mary listened sympathetically, and when she finished, Mary decided to voice a thought that had been prodding her for a while now.  "Lily - I don't ever get on your nerves like that, do I?" 

     "No, of course not, Mary!" Lily exclaimed in surprise.  Mary wasn't satisfied.  

     "I never meant to be overprotective, but I just can't stand to see a boy give you a wrong look." she tried to explain.  

     "Mary, you are not overprotective." 

     "Well, maybe not now, but I don't want to get in your way later." Mary was nervously twisting the edge of the quilt she was sitting on.  "Look, let me make you a promise.  When you get a boyfriend, I promise not to interfere.  I mean, you're clever.  Top of your year.  You ought to be able to make a wise choice.  So I promise I won't stalk you or him, or eavesdrop, or try to get you to break up.  Okay?" 

     Lily was startled.  She couldn't help but wonder if Mary would have still made that promise if she could have read her mind.  But she smiled at her adopted sister.  "Okay." 

     The weather fluctuated wildly.  A week later, it was down to eighty degrees, and the cool breeze helped a lot.  Lily decided to escape the house by disappearing into the tree above the tree house.  

     It was extremely comfortable.  Lily was dressed in only shorts and a tank top, and the wind managed to reach her through the branches.  She sat with her back to the trunk, one leg dangling off the limb and the other stretched out on it.  A glass of cold lemonade was suspended in midair, and every few seconds it would move to her lips so she could take a sip.  Her eyes were closed.  

     She was interrupted with a "Hey." Surprised, she looked down at her sister leaning out of the tree house window.  Lily smiled in return.  

     Rose scrambled out of the window and onto a branch near Lily's, a lemonade glass floating after her.  

     "Did you finish writing your letter to David?" Lily inquired.  The couple had been exchanging letters very energetically ever since the beginning of the summer.  Nicki, surprisingly, didn't have a problem with her dating David.  After four years of friendship, Nicki decided he was acceptable, so they had his full blessing.  

     Rose nodded, a dreamy expression coming across her face.  

Lily sighed wistfully.  "I wish I had a boyfriend." 

     "You have boys asking you out right and left," Rose pointed out.  Lily had actually gotten a few owls from hopeful boys since school let out.  They were all turned down.  

     "I already told you why I didn't accept," Lily said, trying hard to keep the impatience out of her tone.  But Rose sensed it anyway.  And didn't reply.  Lily said abruptly, "I do have a crush, though." 

     Rose perked up.  "Really? Who?" 

     Lily smiled shyly.  "Promise you won't tell him." 

     "I promise." 

     "Okay...James." 

     "James Potter?" 

     "Do we _know_ any other Jameses?" 

     Rose ignored that.  "Oh, this is so cool! We can have a double wedding! Our children will be double cousins!" 

_     "Wedding?" _Lily practically shrieked.  "All I did was say I had a little crush, and you're talking about _weddings?" _

     "It could happen," Rose insisted, grinning.  

     "Yeah right..." Lily muttered, picking absentmindedly at the bark of the tree.  Rose watched her curiously.  

     "What?" 

     "What what?" Lily retorted.  

     "What are you thinking about? You have this whole trance look about you." 

     "Well...." Lily shifted uneasily on the branch.  "I like someone else too.  At least I think I like him.  I'm not really sure.  If I do like him, it'll be really weird.  I mean, so far I think he's just a friend, but there's a chance I may like him more than that.  

You know what I mean?" 

     Rose studied her.  She could only think of two people that would fit that description.  "I think I do." 

     "If I do like him, it's going to be really awkward.  It may cause a whole lot of problems." 

     Rose gave a small smile.  "Causing problems is not what love is about." She was seventy percent sure she knew who it was now.  

     "It would be _really_ awkward, Rose." 

     "Well...then that's the test." 

     Now Lily studied Rose.  "You know who I'm talking about, don't you?" They could read each other like a book.  

     "I think I do." She hesitated.  "Severus Snape, right?" 

     Blushing furiously, Lily nodded.  "It's crazy, isn't it? The boys have been fighting with him since the beginning of time, he's in Slytherin, and everything else.  And I like him! It's totally illogical, irrational, and unreasonable.  Sometimes I think I'm going crazy, what kind of a girl am I?" 

     "A very sane one," Rose soothed.  "Calm down.  Lily, you are a very...insightful person.  You were the first one to figure out Remus was a werewolf.  If you like Severus Snape, then there's a good reason why.  Maybe you see something in him no one else does." 

     Lily, as she always had, listened to her sister.  "You really think so?" she whispered.  

     Rose nodded.  

     Suddenly, Lily smiled.  "Thanks," she said softly, leaning forward to hug her Rose.  

     When they broke apart, Rose asked, "So, which one are you going to go for?" 

     Lily shrugged vaguely.  "I'm not going to go for anyone.  I decided to wait and see what happens.  Just...toss up my fate and let the wind carry it away." 

     Rose grinned.  "That's always fun." 

     When the usual school owls arrived, something extra came for Lily.

     "I'm a prefect!"

     Anetka and Nicki were overjoyed by this.  Petunia rolled her eyes once and headed upstairs to call Vernon and tell him how she couldn't wait until her sisters get out of the house for another nine months.

     The boys were not at all surprised when they learned on the train Lily was a prefect.  

     "Now I can take points away when you get on my nerves," Lily said, looking especially hard at Sirius.  

     "Oh, come on, Lil," he exclaimed with a diabolical grin.  "You don't have the heart to!" 

     "Just try me, Sirius," Lily warned.  

     James switched the subject.  "You know," he whispered, leaning forward confidentially, "I think we might be able to become Animagi this year." 

     "Really?" Rose said excitedly.  James nodded.  

     "All we need to take care of are a few more glitches with Peter," David added.  

     Sirius shook his head.  "Peter, did you know your name actually means 'rock'?" 

*~*

     The next morning they received their timetables, and the boys were very disgruntled to find that they would be sharing Potions again with the Slytherins.  

     After lunch they joined the fifth-year Slytherins in their descent to the dungeons.  Severus tried to catch Lily's eye, but she was too busy talking to her friends.  

     Their teacher was waiting for them.  Professor Middleton was an old and kindly man with a wrinkled round face and sparkling blue eyes.  He was a bit different from the other professors; he allowed a moderate amount of whispering and note passing, as long as everyone was learning something.  Also, he liked to try to figure out who had a crush on whom, and then try to make them sit together.  For this reason he was either liked or hated by the students - because he put them with someone they really did like, or he put them with someone they hated, and now they would be teased for the rest of their existence.  

     Now he stood up as they sat down.  "Welcome to another year of Potions.  So glad to see you all again.  Now, at the end of the year you will be taking your O.W.Ls, so you may find Potions this year a bit more difficult than the previous four.  Now, before we begin, I have your seating arrangement." He paused, looking up at all of them from the roll of parchment he was holding.  "I'm going to be mixing houses somewhat.  It's important you learn to work with people you do not necessarily like." The entire class looked horrified, but he ignored it.  

     "Mr.  David Potter and Miss Rose Evans, please sit there." He pointed to the middle of the classroom.  "Mr.  James Potter and Miss Adesanya, please sit over there." Middleton motioned toward the extreme left of the room.  Lily was disappointed.  "And Mr.  Black and Miss Rakine sit right over there." He pointed wisely to the far right of the class.  "Everyone else may sit where they want.  Mr.  Lupin and Miss Skrit, Mr.  Lestrange and Miss Lavonne...." On and on, until finally- "Mr.  Snape and Miss Lily Evans...." 

     Startled, Lily looked up.  Beside her, Sirius groaned.  

     "You poor child.  Make sure he doesn't poison you." Lily shook her head, and then glanced across the room at Severus to see where they should sit.  He motioned for her to come to him.  _Of course, he doesn't want to sit by Sirius, _she thought as she picked up her bag.  

     "Hello Lily," Severus said casually as she dropped into the seat next to him.  "Did you have a good summer?" 

     "More or less," she replied, arranging her powders and liquids.  "My parents seemed to think that I might collapse again at any sudden moment.  That made it a bit tedious." 

     "See? Starving yourself has consequences," he said knowledgeably.  Lily laughed softly, and as she leaned over to get her Potions book, he caught sight of her prefect badge.  "You're a prefect?" She nodded, smiling.  "Your parents must be happy about that." 

     "They were.  Very much." 

     "All right, class, get started on your Confusion Potion!" Professor Middleton called.  

     The ninth of September Rose turned fifteen, and it was no small occasion.  David vanished with her directly after noon, and they didn't return until after ten.  

     Potions was getting to be a very enjoyable class for Lily.  Severus was actually more of an expert of Potions than she was, and he taught her several tips and hints.  

     The boys didn't like at all how close she was getting to him.  

      "Lily, you haven't forgotten who he is, have you?" James questioned her one day.  

     "No, I haven't." 

     "Good.  Because it looked like you've forgotten _he's our worst enemy!" _

     "Your worst enemy.  Not mine," Lily corrected.  

     James rubbed his temples.  "Lily...do you remember back in our first year, at the Sorting, what I told you? About Slytherins not liking Muggle-borns." 

     "Yes, but Sirius made that argument obsolete last year, didn't he?" countered Lily, grinning at a nearby Sirius.  

     "That's not the point!" 

     "Then what is your point?" 

     "That you shouldn't be hanging around with him so much." 

     "James, Professor Middleton put us together.  I don't have a choice in the matter." 

     He gave up.  

     It was the Thursday of the third week of school.  Potions, their last class of the day, was nearly over - Middleton was passing out the marks from a test taken earlier in the week.  

     "Excellent - you two made the highest marks in the class," the Professor praised as he handed Severus and Lily their score.  Severus grinned at a jubilant Lily.  

     "Looks like we make a good team." 

     She smiled back.  "I suppose we do." 

     Severus hesitated.  _Do it now! _he ordered himself.  It was the perfect opportunity.  But just as he opened is mouth, the bell rang.  

     "Lil!" Sirius called, waving her over.  

     "See you later," she called to Severus as she left with her sister and the boys.  

     He frowned as he pushed his book into his bag.  _Tonight, _he vowed.  _Right after dinner.__  I can't put it off forever_.  

     That night, as Lily, Rose, Mary, James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were leaving the Great Hall, they were stopped by a call.  

     "Lily." Severus Snape stood leaning against the wall of a corridor on their left.  "May I have a minute?" 

     Lily flashed him a smile.  "Certainly." Turning back to her friends, she added, "I'll catch you up, okay?" 

     "Okay," David said, staring suspiciously at Snape.  "We'll be in the common room." 

     "All right." Lily walked over to the patient Severus.  "You wanted to talk to me?" 

     "Yeah..." He was staring at something behind her.  Puzzled, she glanced around to see her friends still standing there, watching them.  

     Lily waved, calling, "Bye!" They got the hint, and reluctantly filed up the stairs.  She turned back around.  

     "Sorry," she apologized.  "They're nearly as protective as my parents." 

     He smiled, biting back a comment he would have loved to make.  But that would not have helped his purpose.  "Lily, did you know this weekend we can go to Hogsmeade?" She nodded.  "Well, I know of a nice restaurant there.  Would you like to go there with me for dinner?" As she stared at him, he added, "As on a date?" 

     "Oh." Lily ran her tongue over her lips, wildly searching for something to say.  "Er - can - can you give me a little time to think about this?" 

      He nodded.  "Of course." 

     "Thanks," said Lily breathlessly.  She managed to walk until she turned the corner - then she ran, full speed, all the way to Gryffindor Tower.  The Fat Lady looked down at the panting Lily in surprise.  

     "Password, dearie?" 

     "Rusty - mailboxes," Lily gasped out, stumbling inside the common room.  Inside, she motioned for Rose to join her in an isolated corner.  She went straight to the point.  

     "Severus Snape just asked me out.  What do I do?" 

     Rose took a double take.  _"What?" _

     "Severus asked me out.  What do I tell him?" Lily repeated impatiently.   

     "Did you just leave him standing there?" 

     "No! I told him I needed some time to think about it." 

     Rose closed her eyes briefly as she formed her thoughts.  Of course she didn't want Lily dating him, but she had to do what would make Lily happy, not herself.  

     "All right," she said slowly.  "Do you want to go out with him?" 

     Lily hesitated.  "I don't know." 

     Rose took a deep breath.  "The idea of you on a date with Severus Snape.  Does it repulse or attract you?" 

     "It doesn't repulse me.  I don't know if it exactly_ attracts_ me." 

     "Lily...what's holding you back?" 

     She gave up.  "Rose, what about James?" 

     "What _about_ James? He didn't ask you out - Severus did." 

     Lily saw her point.  "Well...but what if James does later?" 

     Rose shook her head.  She hated what she was doing, but she had to.  "We can't count on that.  He may _never_ ask.  All we know is that Severus did ask you out, and you like him fairly well." As Lily hesitated, she added, "Lily, it's just one date.  If you hate it, you don't have to do it again.  It's not like you're getting married, or making some other huge commitment.  It's just one date.  If you never want to do it again, I'll help you think of excuses for him next time." 

     Lily thought about this for a few seconds, and then reached up to hug her sister.  

     "Thanks." She walked up the stairs to go to bed.  

     Rose collapsed into a chair behind her, asking herself why on earth she just convinced her sister to go out with Severus Snape the Slytherin.  

     Lily didn't see Severus again until near the end of the next day, when he was walking back from Herbology.  

     "Severus!" She ran down the hallway to where he was standing.  "Er, hi," she began, nervously pushing a lock of her hair behind her ear.  

     "Hello," Severus said quietly.  He had a horrible feeling that she was about to turn him down.  

     "Well, I did think about what you asked me, and I decided...that it might be fun." she said in a rush.  "I mean, I'd like to go on a date with you." 

     Severus was stunned.  After all the boys she turned down, he was the one who got her? But he managed to find his voice.  "Seriously?" 

     She nodded, blushing.  

     "Er, thank you.  So, I'll see you in the Three Broomsticks at...five thirty?" 

     Lily nodded.  "Sure.  See you later."

     But unknown to both of them, someone had heard their conversation, and was now racing as fast as his feet could carry him back to Gryffindor Tower.  

     Peter breathlessly burst into the common room, heading straight to the tousle-headed boy doing his homework by the fire.  

     "James! James! You won't believe what I just heard!" 

     Slowly the boy raised his head.  "James is sitting over there," David said, pointing to three boys sitting at a table.  Unheeded, Peter ran over there.  Curious, David followed.  

     "James! You won't believe what I just heard!" Peter cried breathlessly.         

     From that day on, whenever Peter breathlessly approached James with news, James would involuntarily cringe.  

     Peter knew, as Sirius, Remus, and David did that James was starting to have certain feelings for Lily.  In fact, that's what they had been discussing before Peter arrived.  

     "Oh, go on, ask her out!" Sirius had urged him.  

     "I don't know...I don't think she likes me as much as I like her." James, like his son would be, was reluctant to ask a girl out.  

     "How will you know if you don't ask her?" Remus had pointed out.  "Look, if David can ask Rose out, you can ask Lily." 

     "James, it's easy.  Just ask Lily if she would like to spend some time with you at Hogsmeade tomorrow," Sirius had instructed.  "Go explore the residential area." 

     "All right! I'll ask her." 

     It was at this point that Peter showed up.  

     Now Sirius sighed, "What did you hear, Peter?" 

     "Well, I was going to the library, when I heard Lily and Snape talking!" 

     At once the interest of the four boys was caught.  

     "What did they say?" James asked, leaning forward.  

     "I don't know what was going on, but I think Snape must have asked her out last night." 

     "What?" David yelped; James went white, while Sirius asked sharply, 

     "How do you know?" 

     Peter said eagerly, "Just now, she went up to him and said - I think her exact words were, 'I would like to go out with you.' And Snape said he'd see her tomorrow.  " 

     David, Remus and Sirius's jaws dropped.  James fell weakly back in his chair.  Sirius whispered, 

     "She can't - she couldn't have - she's under the Imperius Curse!" 

     "Don't be stupid, Sirius," David muttered.  "I can't believe it...I thought she was brighter than that...." Remus said nothing, but stared at the table as he tried to figure out why Lily would have done something like this.  

     Right on cue, Lily entered the common room.  

     "Lil!" Sirius jerked his head sideways, emphasizing that she should come over.  

     As Lily walked towards them, she thought about when she should break the news.  She dreaded their response – and rightly so.  Maybe she could tell them afterwards.  Like Sunday morning.  Eight years from now.  

     David grabbed her by the arm and yanked her down into a chair - hard.  Sirius accused, 

     "You're going out with Snape.  Do you deny it?" 

     Lily was shocked.  "How did you know?" 

     "Peter overheard you," informed David.  Sirius barked, 

     "So you admit it?" 

     "What is this, my trial? May I appeal?" Lily was starting to get nervous.  

     "Lily, calm down," David soothed.  "Try to think.  Did you drink any funny liquids lately?" 

_     "No." _Now she was starting to get angry.  

     "Do your sisters know?" Remus chimed in.  

     "Rose is the one who told me to say yes!" 

     David leapt up and left, muttering something about needing to have a talk with his girlfriend.  

     "Look," Lily started.  "This is my life.  Not yours.  I get to go on a date with whoever I want to." She got up and stormed upstairs, passing a puzzled Mary.

     "What was that all about?" she asked, shifting the large pile of books she was carrying.  

     Sirius looked up in surprise.  "You don't know? Lily's going out on a date with Snape." 

     Mary dropped the entire stack.  

     "Oh no," she whispered, dropping into the chair Lily had occupied.  Her head fell onto the table.  _"Why _did I have to make that stupid promise? _Why? _She's going to be _raped_ and there's not a single thing I can do about it...." She was repeatedly raising her head and letting it crash down on the table.

     "What promise?" Peter questioned.  

     "The one I made to Lily over the summer," she moaned.  "I said I wouldn't do anything if she ever started going out, like follow them around or eavesdrop or try to make them break up." 

     "Why did you tell her that?" Sirius exploded.  

     "Because I didn't want to be overprotective and get on her nerves like Anetka and Nicki were." Her head fell again.  

     "Oh, Mary...." Remus said sadly, shaking his head.  

     "How was I supposed to know she was going to choose Snape?" Mary yelled, raising her head.  "I thought she would choose someone sensible, like you" -she waved her hand at James- "or - God, anyone else!" 

     "We know, Mary, we know!" Sirius cried, bringing his fist down on the table.  

     Later, Sirius, James, and David were finally alone in their dorm.  

     "You okay?" Sirius asked, plopping down on James's bed beside David.  

     James had completely forgotten about dinner.  After a few seconds, he nodded in answer to Sirius's question.  "I've changed my mind.  I'm not going to ask Lily out." 

     "Oh, go on, James," said David softly.  

     "No," said James with sudden determination.  "She picked Snape, okay? If she's happy, I don't want to ruin it." 

     "What are you talking about?" Sirius cried.  "It's one date, by tomorrow she's going to realize what an idiot he is, and you'll be able to ask her out! There's nothing to ruin!" 

     "Look, let's just see what happens, okay?" David cut in.  "We don't even know what's going to happen yet.  So...let's just wait until tomorrow night.  Then we can jump to conclusions.  Okay?" 

     The next day, when everyone headed off to Hogsmeade, Lily and Rose stayed behind.  At 5:00, Lily decided to get ready.  Rose lay on her stomach on her bed, watching her.  

     Lily had chosen to wear a black skirt that came just above her knees, covered with silver dust, and the matching shirt (also covered in glitter) had elbow-length sleeves.  She had pinned two locks of hair back on either side of her head back with two silver pins, and was now turning slowly in front of the mirror.  Finally, she faced her sister.  

     "What do you think?" 

     Rose smiled.  "Beautiful." 

     "Thanks." She hesitated, and then admitted, "I can't believe I'm doing this." 

     "Going on a date?" 

     "No!" Lily laughed nervously.  "Well, yes - in a way.  I mean, going on a date with Severus - that whole concept.  Our best friends' worst enemy.  Remember how we met them? When they were fighting with him! Who knew five years later I would be dating him?" 

     Rose smiled weakly.  

     "You think I'm making a wrong choice." Lily's voice dropped to a whisper.  

     "No," Rose said slowly.  "You're giving him a chance - that's never a wrong choice, unless it's dangerous.  Only what you do afterwards can be a wrong choice.  But then only you will know whether or not it's a wrong choice.  No one else.  Remember that." 

     Lily looked at her sister silently for a moment, and then sat down next to her.  "You're the best sister in the world, you know that?" 

     She blushed.  Lily stood up, and then gasped.  "Rose!"

     She sat up.  "What?"

     "Anetka and Nicki!"

     Rose's eyes widened.  "Oh, no!"

    "What am I going to tell them?"

     "Er…just say you went on a date.  You don't have to say with whom, but if you go on one again, I think you better tell them."

     "Yeah...." Lily was trying to think of her parents' reactions.  Nicki would be shocked - he had been a Gryffindor.  Anetka - she would just be surprised, and would listen to anything Nicki said, since he was the expert on all things Hogwarts.

     Lily was in trouble.

     "Okay." Rose blew out her breath.  "Don't worry about it tonight.  Go and have a good time."

     Lily and Rose walked out of Hogwarts and to the carriages that continued to go to and from the village.  They were silent on the way to Hogsmeade - Lily thinking about what her evening would be like, Rose thinking about how this could have happened.

     As they pulled in, Lily said abruptly, "Make sure the boys don't follow us."

     "I will," Rose replied distantly.  When Lily gave her a quizzical look, she added, "Have a good time.  When do you think you'll be back?"

     Lily paused, her hand on the door.  "Er…before eleven.'

     "Eleven?" Rose echoed.

     "You think it's too late? How about ten? You can organize a search party for me after ten."

     "That's fine." She started to breathe again.

     As they stepped out, James, David, Sirius, Remus, Mary, and Peter, who were waiting by the side of the road, moved forward.  

     "Hey," Sirius said.  James stared.  _If I had only asked a day earlier, she could be here for me...  _

     "You look nice," Remus offered.  

     "Thanks," she said, flashing him a smile.  "Mary, what time is it?" 

     "Erm...5:26." 

     "Perfect." Lily glanced around at all her friends, waiting anxiously for them to say something, but they didn't.  "Well...I think I'll be going now.  See you later." Without waiting for a response, she headed off towards the Three Broomsticks.  

     It was very crowded.  Lily entered rather uncertainly, trying to find Severus.  She finally spotted him sitting at a table for two.  There were two bottles of butterbeer before him; one untouched before the vacant chair, the other a quarter empty.  Relieved that he had shown up, Lily approached him.  

     "Hi." 

     He looked up, and then smiled.  "Hi.  I got you a butterbeer." 

     "Thanks," she said, reaching for it.  

     "You're going to have to drink it as you walk," he added, standing up.  "I have a table booked for 5:45." 

     "Okay." 

     They walked down the streets in silence - a rather awkward silence at that.  Lily had never been in this part of Hogsmeade before.  It was where most people lived and where the regular shops where.  It appeared Madam Malkin's was a chain store, as was Quality Quidditch Supplies.  Finally Severus spoke.  

     "I'm thinking your friends weren't pleased when they learned you had accepted my offer." 

     Lily smiled as she glanced at him.  "No, they weren't.  I don't think they're speaking to me anymore." 

     "Oh?" he laughed.  

     "No – it won't last long though.  We've been friends for four years now." 

     "This is it," Severus said, stopping if in front of a large, smart restaurant.  In large, gold and silver letters it spelled out _Josephine's Cauldron_.  "Ever been here before?" he asked as he held the door open for her to pass.  

     Lily shook her head shyly.  A waiter led them to a booth, where they took their seats across from each other.  After placing their orders, Severus began the conversation.  It wasn't exactly the best way to break the ice, but it would clear up any doubts she still had.  

    "Black said last year that you were Muggle-born, and I thought that was a bit strange, because I thought I saw your parents come through the barrier once or twice." 

     Lily flinched slightly.  "Oh.  Well, I am a technical Muggle-born.  That is, my biological parents were Muggles, so I and two of my sisters are Muggle-born.  Not Mary, the one you know, but the oldest one." Lily pushed her hair back.  It was so difficult to explain.  "My older sister is a Muggle, and she, my younger sister Rose, and I are blood relatives.  My mother died giving birth to Rose, and my father couldn't take care of all three of us, so he let the people I now call my parents adopt us - who are a witch and a wizard.  A few months later they had my youngest sister, Mary." 

     Severus nodded.  "That's complicated." 

     That was his only comment? "Yeah..." 

     He continued, "It's strange, my story is a bit like yours." 

     She choked on her water.  "You're a Muggle-born?" 

     "Oh no," he said hastily.  Too hastily.  Lily's eyes flickered downward.  "No - not like that-" -he thought fast- "it's just, I'm not a Muggle-born or adopted." 

     "Oh." Lily accepted it.  

     "See - my mother died a few days after I was born, and my father ran off." 

     "My father did not 'run off',' " Lily corrected.  

     "No - that's not what I meant-" It was obvious he was losing fast.  He decided to go for the honest approach.  "Look, I really didn't mean it to sound like that.  Really." 

     Lily considered this.  "It's all right.  I'm just a bit sensitive about the subject.  So, if you weren't adopted, what happened to you?" 

     He shrugged.  "My uncle took me in - that is, my father's brother." 

     Lily studied him.  "Do you like him much?" 

     Severus shrugged again.  "He didn't like me, I didn't like him.  He let me sleep in his house and told the house-elves to feed me.  That is the extent of his looking after me.  I probably only saw him a dozen times growing up." 

     "I'm sorry." 

     "I'm not." 

     Lily couldn't help but laugh.  "So, who took care of you when you were a baby?" 

     "No one, really.  Well - the house-elves had a large part in it.  My uncle's fairly wealthy, and since I had free rein on the house, they were the only ones to keep me from becoming a spoiled brat." 

     "They did a pretty good job." Lily said without thinking.  He raised his eyebrows.

     "How can you tell?" 

     "Well...." She could feel her cheeks burning.  "You don't seem like the spoiled type." 

     "Thank you, I suppose." 

     "But what did you do all day? If your uncle ignored you, and you were left by yourself...." 

     "He had a library.  And a Quidditch field, and a pool." 

     At once Lily was interested.  "You like to read?" 

     "Yes.  I was still a toddler when the head elf, Zephy, taught me to read and write.  He's brighter than most house-elves." Severus didn't add that Zephy was the only thing that had ever come close to family for him.  "So I usually spent my time trying to read the entire library." He hesitated, and then continued, "My family is all from Slytherin, so most of the books were about the Dark Arts.  I blame them for my being in Slytherin." 

     Lily laughed.  

     "Well, what about your sister? What is she like?" 

     "She..." Lily searched for something nice to say about her sister.  "She has really pretty eyes." Well, that was conceited.  Petunia's eyes were just like hers.  "Petunia's a blond - really tall." That was all she could think of.  "So, is your uncle going to be angry that you're going out with a Gryffindor?" 

     He didn't blink.  "My uncle died last year." 

     Lily dropped her fork with a clatter.  "Oh, Severus, I'm so sorry." 

     "I'm not," he repeated.  This time, Lily didn't laugh.  

     "What happened to you now?" 

     "He left basically everything to me, since he obviously couldn't think of anyone else.  I get it all when I turn seventeen.  Until then, everything is in the hands of Zephy.  Or that's what the papers say." He smiled slightly.  "Unofficially, I'm the master.  The house-elves do as I say.  No questions asked." 

     Their evening continued in the same manner, without any further awkward moments.  Lily was surprised by how good a time she had.  Halfway through their meal a party of twenty-five arrived, all of them having extremely large noses.  Severus and Lily, in a whisper, concocted all of their life stories and futures.  She couldn't breathe, she was laughing so hard.  

     Severus paid the bill and they left, struggling not to grin as they passed the Beak Tribe.  

     Night had fallen suddenly.  Severus glanced at her as they took a few steps away from Josephine's Cauldron.  "Do you want to go for a walk before going back to the school?" 

     "All right." Why not? 

     They started down a more secluded street.  Everyone was either already at Hogwarts or at home.  The moon, even though it was a mere crescent, was bright.  Severus was delighted.  Things couldn't have been more perfect.  

     After a few minutes Severus took Lily's hand, half expecting her to discreetly pull away, but she didn't.  He thought about interlacing fingers, but decided against it.  He shouldn't rush things.  

     Lily's heart was racing.  What was she doing, holding hands with Severus Snape? What would her friends do if they could see her now? The answers came to her almost instantly.  The boys - all of them - would be disgusted.  Mary would faint.  Rose - Lily slowed her thinking, trying to discern the opinion that mattered the most to her.  Suddenly, her sister's voice filled her head just as though she was really talking to her.  

_     Does it bother you? _No, not really.  

_    Then you like it? _I suppose...  

_     And it's not hurting you.  So don't worry about it.  _

     The couple had walked all the way to the edge of the village, behind the last house, where there was a bench.  Severus had found it earlier that day, when he was planning out the entire evening.  Now they sat down next to each other.  

     Lily's heart was really pounding now.  She had never expected to find herself in this situation.  

     Severus leaned back, carefully setting his arm around her shoulders.  "So...are you having a good time?" She nodded, unable to speak.  He smiled, fingering a lock of her red hair.  "It's not over yet." They were incredibly close - her heart was about to jump out of her chest.  Severus leaned forward slightly, and their lips touched.  

     It was only for an instant - then they broke apart.  Severus was in shock.  He hadn't planned to actually kiss her tonight; he wanted to take it slow, inch-by-inch.  But it happened – and it left his mind reeling.  "What was that?" 

     Lily was just as much in shock.  She stared at him, her lips slightly parted.  "I don't know," she said breathlessly.  "But I think I liked it." 

     Severus couldn't help but smile.  They kissed again, and this time it was longer.  Lily forgot about houses.  She forgot about her friends.  

     Much later, they were walking back to Hogwarts, holding hands again, but this time with interlaced fingers.  Lily wasn't nervous anymore.  

     When they reached the end of the street, in front of the carriages, they stopped.  Severus had been pondering on whether or not to ask her something, and now he decided to take the risk and go for it.  

     "Lily...tomorrow your friends will interrogate you about what happened between us, right?" She nodded, frowning slightly at the thought.  "Do you want to tell them that we are a couple?" 

     She caught her breath.  This wasn't "just a date" he was asking her - it was something much more permanent.  The entire school would be against them, not to mention her best friends.  A Gryffindor and a Slytherin...could they even last together? 

     But then what Rose had said earlier that evening rushed back at her: "...only what you do afterwards can be a wrong choice.  But then only you will know whether or not it's a wrong choice.  No one else.  Remember that." Then it hit Lily: it didn't matter what anyone thought, not the rest of the school, not Dumbledore, not her father, not even her sisters.  Only her and Severus knew what they were doing was right or not.  So was it right? 

     He was still waiting hopefully for her answer.  She cocked her head.  "Kiss me again." He obeyed, and it was during that kiss that Lily knew what her answer would be.  She slowly reached up and wrapped her arms around her neck.  

     When they parted, he warned her, "Your friends aren't going to like it." 

     She grinned.  "It doesn't matter." 

     Laughing, Severus whispered for the first of many times, "That's my girl." Lily flushed, but more from excitement than embarrassment.  

     After they parted in front of the Great Hall, Lily practically danced the way to Gryffindor Tower.  She found the common room completely empty except for Rose, who was dressed in her nightgown and robe, sitting in a chair reading a book.  She quickly looked up when Lily entered.  

     "Lily! You're finally back." 

     Lily glanced at the clock on the wall.  "It's only 9:45." 

     "Well..." She closed the book and leaned forward on the table as Lily sat down across from her.  "You look happy." 

     "I am." 

     "So you had a good time?"  

     "Incredible." Lily grinned.  

     "Well, aren't you going to tell me about it?" 

     Lily was smiling to herself, fingering the binding of Rose's book.  "First we had dinner at a really nice restaurant.  It was really fun.  You can't understand how nice he can really be, Rose.  Before this, all we knew about him was how he acted when he fought with the boys, and what is that? But he really can be nice." Rose nodded, seeing her point.  "After that we decided to take a walk." She was slowly turning red as she thought about the next part.  Her sister noticed.  

     "Lily, whatever happened you can tell me." Rose's green eyes stared directly into Lily's matching eyes.  

     "I know." She paused for a moment.  "He took my hand as we went down the streets, until we came to a bench at the edge of Hogsmeade.  Then he put his arm around my shoulders.  And...we kissed.  Twice.  The first time was almost like an experiment, you know? The second..." Lily fell back in her seat, laughing giddily.  "Oh, it's indescribable.  Just...mind-blowing.  I've never experienced anything like it.  It was like...time froze, and it was just the two of us and what was happening right then, and no one and nothing else mattered." 

     Rose couldn't believe her ears.  It was uncanny, really – and chilling.  Lily saw her expression.  

     "What?" 

     "Nothing...just, I feel the same way when David kisses me." 

     Her eyes widened.  "Wow.  Oh, what did he tell you yesterday about your helping me go out with Severus?" 

     "Not much - just asked me why if I loved my sister so much, I would tell her to go out with a Slytherin, and Snape of all people.  I explained to him all I told you was to give him a chance.  He still wasn't convinced." 

     "Did you get into a fight?" 

     "No - in the end he gave up, saying he trusted me.  But what happened with you and Severus after that?" 

     "Well, we started walking back to Hogwarts, holding hands again.  When we got near the carriages, we stopped, and then he asked me to be his girlfriend." 

     Now Rose's eyes widened.  "What did you say?"

     "Well...try to follow my thought process here, okay? At first I was thinking, 'Me? Severus's girlfriend? Everyone would go berserk.' But then I remembered what you told me, about how only I would know whether it was a right or wrong choice.  And I thought about it, and...I said yes." She held her breath as she waited for her sister's reaction.  

     Rose was telling herself over and over that she trusted her, Lily was a clever girl, she knew what she was doing.  And it was working.  Slowly.  Finally she said carefully, "I'm just going to say this: you do know what you're doing?" 

     Lily leaned forward across the table.  "During the summer you told me that if I liked Severus Snape, there had to be a good reason.  I do like him, and there is a good reason why.  I don't know what it is yet, but there is a reason.  Why else would I agree to date the Slytherin that our best friends have been fighting with for five years? Rose, you have to trust my judgment." 

     She sighed.  "That's good enough for me.  I trust you and your judgment.  You and Severus have my blessing - though I think it's the only one you're going to get." 

     "Oooh, yeah, the boys aren't going to be happy about this, are they?" 

     "I think not." 

     "Oh dear..." 

     But what neither of them knew was that a small dark-haired girl sat on the steps of the staircase to their dorm, her knees to her chest and her arms wrapped tightly around her legs, an odd sort of lump in her throat.  She had been waiting for Lily as long as Rose had.  Now as her sisters started walking toward the steps, Mary stood up and disappeared silently through a door marked "Fourth Years" where she sat on her bed for several minutes without moving.  She wasn't upset because Lily had chosen Severus as a boyfriend.  She was upset because Lily was so sure about it.  


	11. Part Two of Book Six

**_Part Two_**

     Sunday Lily and Rose remained in their dorm all day.  Lily was scared of her friends' reactions, and Rose was there to keep her company.  Rose reminded her Lily had to come out and face them sometime, and she promised she would.  Tomorrow.  

     The following morning James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were waiting when Lily, Rose, and Mary came down.  

     "Well, Lily, show us your battle scars!" 

     "You know what I think?" Sirius said.  "I think he tried to kiss her." 

     "He didn't _try," _Lily said sharply.  

     "That's a surprise," Sirius muttered as they left the common room.  Lily took a deep breath.  She had to tell them now.  

     "I let him." 

     As one, the five boys froze, and then slowly turned to face her.  David was the first to speak.  He put his hand on her forehead.  

     "What on earth did he put in your drink?" 

     Lily pulled away.  "Nothing.  And – I thought you ought to know – he asked me to be his girlfriend last night.  I said yes." She began to rapidly walk toward the Great Hall.  

     For about three seconds they – being the boys – stood perfectly still in shock.  Then Sirius laughed.  

     "You can't be serious!" 

     "I have never been more so," she snapped.  Sirius stopped laughing.  They all stared at her except Mary and Rose.  Mary stared at the ground, her hands clasped tightly behind her back.  Rose nervously glanced from one of her friends to the next.  Remus finally broke the silence.  

     "Lily...are you sure you know what you're doing?  It was only one date, and you agreed to be a couple?  And with Snape?" 

_     Only I know what I'm doing, _Lily reminded herself.  Repeatedly.  "I know it's hard to understand.  But I did really think about it." 

     "Then why did you say yes?" shouted David.  "He's a Slytherin, Lily!  We've been fighting with him for years!  You're – you're-" 

     "-Fraternizing with the enemy!" Sirius finished.  

     Lily only glared at them and started walking to the Great Hall again.  

     "Oh, no you don't," Sirius said, quickly stepping in front of her.  "We're going to talk about this." 

     "Then talk as you walk," Lily said icily, stepping around him.  The boys followed.  

     "Lily, aren't you going to even try to explain?" Remus asked, trying to stay calm at her seemingly illogical actions.  She stopped again, and they did too.  

     "I would, but it wouldn't get me anywhere with you lot." 

     Sirius raised a finger and opened his mouth to argue, then stopped as he realized she was right.  Lily arched her eyebrows at him and continued to walk down the hall.  

     "So, what, that's it?" he cried as they once again fell in step behind her.  "Isn't there anything else you're going to say about it?" 

     "No," said Lily shortly.  "I just thought you, being my friends, ought to know I have a boyfriend.  That's all.  Anything Severus and I do is none of your concern." 

     "Bullshit!" he shouted.  "You're our friend and he's our enemy!  And hasn't he asked you to call him _Sevy_ yet?" 

     Sirius hadn't known Lily was capable of such scathing glares, but he got over his shock rapidly.  "Lily, we've been fighting with him longer than we've known you." 

     For the first time, something like alarm and a hint of hurt showed on her face.  "So your enmity with him is more important than your friendship with me?" 

     "No!" He put his hand to his forehead and ran it through his hair.  "Lily – I wasn't saying that." 

     "What he means," Remus sighed, stepping forward, "is that we know him better than you do, and you shouldn't be seeing him." 

     "You don't know anything about him!" she cried.  "You've only seen the worst side of him, you don't even know he has a totally different side!  Well, I do!" 

     "What?" David said in disbelief, as though she were speaking gibberish.  Lily just shook her head and kept walking.  

     "Mary!" Sirius whirled on the fourth year as though she were his last hope of salvation.  It made her jump slightly.  "Aren't you going to do something about this?" 

     Sunday morning she had been called into Lily and Rose's dorm, where they had begun to awkwardly explain what had taken place last night on Lily's date.  Mary had cut them off, saying simply she had overheard them last night, which didn't relieve her sisters at all.  They told her that that wasn't the way they had wanted her to find out, and she replied it didn't matter.  

     Now Mary quickened her pace, saying to the air in front of her, "No.  Lily knows what she's doing." The way she said it left no doubt in anyone's mind that she wasn't going to touch her sister's life.  

     Now, there were two boys who never voiced their opinions, objections, or otherwise during this dialogue.  One was Peter, the other James.  Peter was most severely confused at this point in time about whose side he should be on to say anything.  James's vocal chords were numb from shock.  He was rather thankful for this, as he wasn't too sure anything he said wouldn't come out in a high-pitched squeak.  But now he pulled Sirius to the back of the group.  

     " 'Its one date'?" he questioned.  

     "Don't worry about it, man," he said, distracted.  "She'll snap out of it." But there wasn't very much faith in his tone.  He added, as though seized with inspiration, "And I'll help her." 

     He started walking toward her as they finally approached the Great Hall.  "Hey, Lil!  Can you spell 'Slytherin'?" 

     David quickly picked up the idea, and as they took their habitual seats, they started to taunt Lily with the fact that she was going out with Snape, refusing to let up.  

     "Do your parents know?" Remus suddenly asked.  

     Lily and Rose simultaneously dropped their spoons and glanced at each other apprehensively.  Mary raised her eyebrows.  It was the first time she had thought of that.  

     "Nicki's a Gryffindor," she reminded them.  

     "Oooh, this ought to be good!" exclaimed Sirius.  "Lily Marie Evans, his first-born witch, his princess, becoming a Slytherin's girlfriend and doing God-knows-what with him.  Isn't he going to be pleased?" 

     "Sirius!" Lily said through gritted teeth.  "You know _nothing_ about my parents, so just be quiet, okay?" 

     For another ten minutes the boys continued to harass her.  Lily and Rose argued with them as much as they could, but they were losing.  Mary sat wordlessly next to Rose, unable to bring herself to defend Lily's relationship with her enemy.  

     Severus, a table down, watched the scene with narrowed eyes.  He couldn't hear what was being said, but he could make a very close guess.  Lily was looking frustrated.  Once, he saw her lean forward, putting her elbows on the table and pushing her fingers through her hair.  But the thing that caught his eye was how bright her eyes were.  That did it.  He got up and walked around the Gryffindor table to where Lily was.  Potter and Black fell silent as he approached, and Lily didn't notice until he placed a hand on her shoulder.  She looked up, surprised.  

     "Lily, if they're bothering you, you can come with me to eat somewhere quieter." 

     "Thank you," she sighed in relief, standing up and pulling her bag over her shoulder.  Severus cast her tormentors a smug look.  As Lily was about to walk away, she added, "Oh, I don't think you've really met my sisters, Rose and Mary." Rose smiled brightly.  Mary forced hers.  Severus nodded to both, resolving to be as nice to Mary as he was to Rose.  "And I think you know the rest." Lily finished.  

     "All too well," he muttered, and then glanced anxiously at her.  But Lily was not on good terms with her friends right then.  

     "Yeah," she sighed.  

     As they left the Great Hall, David found his voice and called loudly, "I don't give them a month." 

     Sirius countered, "I don't give them eleven days." 

     Lily looked up at Severus determinedly.  "We'll show them," she whispered.  He smiled down at her, putting his arm around her waist.  

     "Yeah.  They'll see." 

     As they started to walk down the corridor, he inquired, "I don't suppose you know where the kitchens are?" 

     "As a matter of fact, I do," she replied.  He looked surprised, and she added, with a slight smile, "You're forgetting who my friends are." 

     "Oh" was all he said to that.  After a moment, he informed her, "Well, so do I." They stopped before a portrait of fruit, and he impatiently tapped the pear.  Laughing, the picture swung open, and Severus led Lily down the stairs, where they were greeted by the zealous house-elves.  

     "What is the good sir and miss be wishing for?" squeaked one as they crowded around.

     Severus glanced at her.  "What do you want, Lily?" 

     "Er – I'm not really hungry.  How about a few croissants?" 

     Immediately a large plate stacked with hot croissants rushed towards them (held up by two house-elves from underneath), along with two fluffy cushions for them to sit on.  The couple grinned at each other as they sat down on the floor.  

     "Well," Severus began, "this is just a wild guess, but wasn't the argument you and your friends were having concerning us?" 

     "How did you ever know?" Lily asked sarcastically.  

     "So the news didn't go over well?" 

     "You could say that.  You could also say they're convinced I've lost it." 

     "I'm sorry." 

     "No, it's okay.  They're going to have to find out I'm not going to break up with someone just because I don't have their approval." 

     He smiled, reaching over to take her hand.  

     A few minutes later a house-elf approached them, curtsying twice before announcing, "I beg your pardon, sir and miss, but I must say that sir and miss's classes begin soon." 

     They quickly got to their feet, Lily thanking the house-elf.  As they stepped back into the corridor, Severus told her, "Don't let them bother you.  I'll see you later." He squeezed her hand, gave her a quick kiss on the lips, and hurried off to Charms.  

     Lily's dreamy smile evaporated as she reached her friends.  

     "Not a word out of any of you," she snapped before they could say anything.  "Not a single, solitary word.  Come on, we have Divination and if we're late Professor Trelawney will prophesy that something evil will befall all our descendents.  See you at lunch, Mary." And with that she rapidly walked past them toward the North Tower.

     Rose caught up with her and asked nonchalantly, "Where did you go?"

     "Kitchens," Lily whispered.  "But don't tell the boys because we might go there again."

     Rose nodded.

     The entire way to the Tower the sisters were at least five steps ahead of James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter.  They met Alice and Nicole waiting below the trapdoor.

     "Lily," Alice called as they ascended the ladder, "why did you leave breakfast with Severus Snape?" Neither she nor Nicole had ever actually spoken to him, but they knew their male classmates fought with him on a regular basis and his simply being a Slytherin was good enough reasons not to speak to him.

     Lily replied calmly, "Oh, Saturday we became a couple."

     Alice missed a rung in the ladder, and would have fallen if Nicole hadn't quickly reached up and grabbed her arm.  But Alice couldn't think of anything to say.  "Why?" sounded too rude.  Finally she just murmured, "Really?"

     Lily nodded offhandedly, and then decided to have mercy on her.  "I know it's sudden, but he's really quite different than you think he is."

     Nicole, the last girl to climb through the hole, ventured, "So your friends aren't too happy with this, are they?"

     Lily gave a little smile as the four of them moved to one side of the room and the five boys sullenly took their seats on the other side.  "I don't think they're speaking to me."

     None of the boys and Lily and Rose had seriously undertaken Divination.  At the end of their second year James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had simply written the name of each subject they could choose from down on a scrap of paper, tossed them into David's bowler hat, and randomly drawn out the classes they would take.  Lily and Rose had thought this was a rather reckless way to determine their future.  But it turned out that after the redheads had carefully chosen their favorite subjects, there was still one more they had to take, so they picked Divination – just to be with their friends.

     Now Professor Trelawney floated majestically forward through her screen of beads.  It was only her third year teaching – her predecessor, Professor Mori, was a female ghost that most students swore was a distant relative of Professor Binns.  She had supposedly predicted her own death, and was only off by two and a half years.  But she had quit teaching to join the League of the Past Who See the Future in their hundred-year trance.  The older students felt their new teacher was a step downward.

     "Good day, my dears," she purred, delicately setting down the crystal ball she was carrying onto her desk.  "I am so thankful to see you all here, well, and in your right minds.  However, who knows how long that shall last?  But that is what you are here for, is it not?" Trelawney smiled dreamily, not catching David's whispered, 

     "No, we are here to laugh at your incorrect predictions!" James, David, and Sirius had so much fun in this class.

     "Now," she continued in what she obviously thought was a trance-like whisper, "today we will be reviewing our powers with orb-gazing.  I will be calling one of you up to first breathe the fumes of these smoking tea leaves" -she set what looked like an ashtray filled with burned leaves that had smoke rising forevermore from it- "which will help you see less with your outer eye and more with your Inner Eye."

     David, who was sitting closest to the table, had begun to hack and cough as soon as the ashtray made its appearance, now cried in feign terror, "I've gone blind!"

     Lily buried her face in _Developing Your Inner Eye_, trying to mask her laughter.

     Professor Trelawney chose not to hear that, and went on airily, "Then you will gaze into the crystal ball, and if you do have the character of a true Seer, you will see your fate unfold before you." David, meanwhile, had gone from being sightless to having gotten high.  "Now" -she clapped her hands together lightly- "I believe Mr. Black should go first."

     She really ought to have known better, after her past three years of experience with him.  She really ought to have.  But it was too late for any reconsiderations now – Sirius had risen dramatically from his seat.  Nicole and Alice, who had been having a written discussion of fifth year Ravenclaw Jason Halling, Alice's crush, stopped and eagerly leaned forward, as did everyone else in the classroom.  They all knew that when Sirius was called up in Divination, whatever followed would most certainly be a performance worth watching.

     Sirius strode purposefully forward, taking the ashtray and bringing it under his nose, where he breathed deeply, making his eyes roll back into his head and his eyelids flutter.  Slowly he set it back down and took his seat in front of the smoky crystal ball, a deep look of mixed concentration and thoughtfulness in his expression as he stared into it.  After a few seconds of silence he spoke.

     "It's clearing – I see" -he furrowed his brow in concentration- "a figure – he's running – blimey, he looks scared – wait, it's me!" Sirius looked shocked.  The class, despite their knowledge it was all an act, was caught up in the performance.  "Something's chasing me – oh no, I've fallen!" He looked to be sincerely frightened.  "It – whatever it is – is getting closer – I'm trying to crawl away but it's no use-"

     "What is it?" cried Trelawney breathlessly.  "The Grim?  A Chimaera?  A dementor?  A-"

     But she was cut short as Sirius let out a bloodcurdling scream so real that it sent a flash of doubt though all of his classmates' minds – except James's – that perhaps he wasn't pretending.  He had grabbed the armrests of the wooden chair so tightly his knuckles had turned white, and his face had blanched – his entire body was shaking.  Everyone was on the edge of their seats, watching him with wide eyes.  Professor Trelawney had rushed forward, taking him by the shoulders.

     "Oh, what was it, my dear boy?  Tell us!  What was it that caused you to shriek so?"

     Sirius, still shaking, whispered hoarsely in terror, "Magical – flying – anchovies!"

     The girls burst into laughter as James, David, Remus, and Peter started applauding wildly.  Trelawney straightened, extremely disappointed.  In less than a second Sirius went under a drastic transformation.  He stopped shaking, his face becoming its usual color, and he had jumped to his feet, bowing deeply to the class.  As he returned to his seat, James leaped up, vigorously shaking his hand as though Sirius had single-handedly saved an endangered species.

     "You shouldn't mock the study and practice of Divination," their teacher snapped, much out of character.  "The art of Seeing is not to be dealt lightly with.  This could be one of your most important classes here at Hogwarts-"

     "How?" James was leaning forward, his elbows on the table and his fingertips touching.

     Trelawney blinked.  "Excuse me?"

     "How?  What's the importance of seeing the future?  The future cannot be altered – any attempts one makes to change it will simply be part of the events that cause whatever fate you saw.  And if one doesn't try to do anything about it, that's part of one's fate as well.  Basically, the future cannot be altered, and any attempts one makes to alter it are just part of the alterations that cause whatever fate you saw.  The future will be the future, no matter what you do.  And if you did actually change it, well then, it wouldn't be the future, would it?  So if one realizes and understands all this, and goes on to study one's fate here, and if one receives – as it is most likely – a disturbing fate, then seeing as there is nothing one can do about it, one is doomed to be miserable and despairing in anticipation of one's future until the end of one's days.  I, personally, would rather remain ignorant of my future.  Of course, this all leads back to the question of this class's importance.  Why, we all could have spent the last five minutes doing something of value, like that two-thousand page essay Professor McGonagall demanded of us, instead of me confusing all of you."

     Of course, by now everyone was staring at him, dumbfounded.  Amused, Lily leaned back on her pouf, feeling rather content with the world at the moment.  _Some things never change,_ she thought, watching Trelawney fumble for an answer as David gleefully nudged James under the table.

     During the next few days Lily and Severus didn't get to see each other very much – mainly due to conflicting classes and houses, and also because Sirius, David, and Peter always tried to distract her whenever they saw Snape in the vicinity.  Lily thought it was odd James didn't join in – he was barely speaking to her at all anymore, just giving the necessary greetings.  She assumed it was his way of displaying his disapproval of her unpopular decision.  How could she know he was utterly miserable in front of her, and that he didn't trust himself to even make conversation?  If she had known that, her future might have been a very different thing.

     Meanwhile, Severus was becoming increasingly aware of what a real threat to their relationships their distance was.  He knew from several successful attacks Potter, Potter, and Black had staged that they were in possession of some brains, and if Lily continued to be under their influence and away from his much longer, it was very probable she would break off their relationship.  Severus had to take action.  He pondered this as he walked some of the deserted corridors of Hogwarts.  Finally, an idea struck him – it was something that would take a whole lot of work, and he wasn't entirely certain it was completely legal – but he believed he could pull it off.

      On Friday he was in Defense Against the Dark Arts, not really paying attention as usual (after all, he knew more now about runespoors than this pathetic excuse for a Dark Arts expert ever would) – in fact, he was working on his new idea, when a slip of paper glided into the classroom from under the door, and went right up to – him.  Thankfully, the teacher was preoccupied.

     Vivienne Rakine, the girl who had been partnered with Black in Potions, leaned over from her desk.  "Who's it from?"

     Severus shrugged.  Actually, he was guessing from Lily, since he couldn't imagine anyone else who would go to the trouble to send him an inter-class note, unless one of her "friends" had a sudden urge to blackmail him.  But it did prove to be from Lily – though he couldn't believe its contents.

_     Dear Severus,_

_           I'm very sorry, but over the week I have been thinking about our relationship.  I realized that we are just too different.  There isn't any way we can continue.  So it's best to end it now, this way, before we learn the hard way.  I hope you understand._

_     Sincerely,_

_          Lily Evans_

     Severus was in shock.  After all those weeks working so hard to gain her trust, this is what it came to?  What had he done wrong?  This morning, when she had waved and smiled at him from across the Great Hall, there was never a sign she was going to do this.  Not one.  What had gone wrong?  

     Forgetting the plans he had been concocting completely, Severus sat through the rest of the lesson on Dark Arts' snakes rereading the letter and going over everything he had ever done around, to, and toward Lily.  But nothing explained it.  It was inconceivable that the same girl who had whispered, "We'll show them," Monday could now send him this letter.  

     As he was walking in something like a daze toward his last class before dinner, Transfiguration, another folded bit of parchment rushed towards him.  Severus shoved it in his pocket, ignoring the curious looks his classmates were giving him.  He dropped to the back of the group before unfolding it, praying it was some sort of explanation for the previous note.  It was anything but that.  

_     Snape- _

_I wish I had never met you.  Don't you ever speak to me or ever come near me ever again, or I'll tell my friends to hex you.    
-Lily _

     Severus stopped walking.  This – this was impossible.  It was more impossible than the first letter.  He may not know her as well as Rose did, but he had been watching her for months, and he knew she would never tell anyone something like this.  

     He couldn't try to make sense out of it in class – McGonagall wasn't a person to be ignored.  But afterwards, as he took his usual seat in the Great Hall, he decided to wait until Lily arrived to act.  

     After a few minutes, Potter, Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew entered, laughing and talking as they made their way to the table.  Where _were_ Lily and her sisters?  Restlessly he drummed his fingers on the table.  

     Then the door opened again, and Lily, Rose, and Evans – no, no, Mary, not Evans – walked in.  Lily had her arms crossed, looking slightly amused.  Rose was holding three sheets of paper, looking at them and whispering to Lily.  Mary leaned over Rose's shoulder, looking puzzled and something else Severus couldn't quite identify.  Suddenly, he and Lily's eyes locked, and to his surprise she only looked more amused.  She tilted her head back, as though to suggest they should step out, then told her sisters something, taking the letters out of Rose's hand.  They nodded and sat down at the Gryffindor table.  Severus was puzzled, but he rose and followed her out into the empty corridor.  

     "What did I do?" he blurted out as she turned to face him.  He pulled the letters out of his pocket and held them up.  "Can you please tell me what happened?" 

     She raised her hands, holding the papers between her thumb and index finger.  "Before you say anything else, I think you ought to read these" -extending the letters to him.  As he slowly took them, she added, "I got them over the course of the day." She gently pulled the letters he had taken out of his pocket from between his fingers as he unfolded the first letter she had handed him.  

_     Lily-   
       I've finally come to my senses – you may be pretty, but there's no way I'm going to date a Mudblood.  It's over._

_ -Severus _

     And the second one read as follows: 

_     Evans-   
        Or should I say Mudblood!  If you haven't gotten the point yet, let me say it clearly: I'm dumping you.  You actually thought I would date someone who was so close to Potter and Black?    
-Snape _

     The third: 

_     Lily-   
       Before I am branded with the reputation of having had dated a Mudblood for a full week, let's break it off.  It was fun seeing how gullible you were.  And a word of advice: next time, stick with your own kind.    
-Snape _

     Disbelievingly, he first shook his head, then, desperate to make her believe him, cried, "Lily – I didn't write these, I swear I didn't-" 

     She held up the two letters he had received, looking indignant.  "You actually thought _I _wrote these?" 

     He paused.  "Well...I was in serious denial." 

     She laughed, exchanging letters again.  "Severus, when I got the first letter I was stunned.  When I got the second I was confused.  When I got the third, I was ready to kill my friends." 

     It dawned on him.  "You mean – _they_ wrote these?"  

     "Of course," Lily said calmly.  "Who else?" She studied the letters he had received again.  "I think Peter wrote this one" -referring to the shorter, more laconic one- "and Sirius must have written the other one.  Now these" -flourishing the notes addressed to her- " are by, in order, David...Peter...and Sirius." 

     "What about Potter?" 

     "David wrote the first one," she repeated impatiently.  

     "No, I mean the other Potter." 

     "James?  He didn't write one – none I can tell, anyway.  I wonder why." She frowned slightly, and then added, "And you can call them by their first names, you know.  Wait – do you even know their first names?" 

     "Of course.  James Whatever-His-Middle-Name-Is-" 

     "David." 

     He blinked.  "Sorry?" 

     "David.  That's his middle name.  James David Potter and David James Potter." 

     Severus thought about this for a moment, and then shook his head.  "Their parents had a twisted sense of humor." 

     "I like their parents," Lily said mildly.  "Can you tell them apart?" 

     He flashed her a smile.  "Lily, I've known them longer than you have.  I can tell James David Potter and David James Potter apart.  Though it doesn't really matter – they're both just Potter to me." 

     "They're different to me.  One's dating my sister.  The other isn't." 

     "I shall not comment further.  Back to the original subject-" He gathered all five fake letters together.  "I think I shall have a word with Mr. David James Potter and Company.  Make that a few words.  Primarily in Latin." 

     "No." She laid a hand on his arm.  "Let me talk to them this time, okay?  If they do this again, I'll let you deal with it, but I can handle it.  I've already told Rose to talk to David – I don't think he'll try anything like this again." 

     "Perhaps.  You didn't really want to eat supper, did you?" he asked, realizing dinner was almost over.  

     She laughed.  "No, it's all right." Just then, the Great Hall doors burst open and a river of students poured out.  Lily rose onto her tiptoes, whispering to him as she took the letters out of his hand, "Meet me tomorrow after breakfast in the library." She gave him a swift kiss.  

     Potter, Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew had just appeared outside the Great Hall, all trying to look innocent and vaguely curious as to why Snape and Lily spent the entire dinner hour talking outside the Great Hall.  

      Lily took a few steps toward them, holding up their artwork and singing, "Oh, _boys-" _

     All five of them broke into a run toward Gryffindor Tower.  Lily streaked after them.  Her sisters emerged from the Hall, and seeing what was happening, tore after them too.  

     Severus couldn't help but laugh as he turned to go to his own common room.  

     Lily and Rose hadn't become any faster compared to the boys than they were back in Diagon Alley before their first year.  Mary, however, was surprisingly swift for her size.  In a few seconds she had passed Lily, gaining on the fugitives, and was weaving in and out of students with a knowledge of who-would-be-where-when and maneuvering that wasn't entirely natural.  Suddenly, with a complicated bit of Practical Magic, she managed to send Peter, who was at the back of the group, crashing into one of the knights against the wall.  The knight drew his sword with such fury and a threat about "striking off thy ears, thou impudent youth!" that Peter was moved to such speeds he would have not have ordinarily been able to reach.  

     By now they were quite close to their destinations – Sirius and James were shouting, "Rusty mailboxes!  Rusty mailboxes!" twenty feet before the portrait hole.  But the Fat Lady still didn't open until they reached it, and the delay gave the girls enough time to sufficiently catch up.  As the boys bounded inside, and leaped toward their staircase, Lily pulled out her wand and pointed it at neither her friends nor their goal, but the floor, and cried, 

_     "Elimentia Frictio_!" 

     As though the floor had been turned to waxed ice, all five boys slipped simultaneously and onto their backs, skidding uncontrollably across the common room, bouncing off first one wall, then the other.  

      "What did you do?" asked one first year of Lily in awe.  

     "I made the floor friction-free," Lily explained, watching the innocent Gryffindors scramble onto sofas, chairs, and table in an attempt to get out of the way of the sliding boys.  

      "Aren't you a prefect?" asked his friend skeptically.  

     "Yes, and they deserve it," she replied grimly, restoring friction with a wave of her wand before stepping into the room.  

     James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were all a bit dazed – they had hit their head on something at least once.  Lily quickly preformed the Leg-Lock Curse on all of them, and then levitated them – with Rose and Mary's help – onto a couch, where they were lined up side by side.  With a number of _"Accio!"_s, she collected all their wands.  Lily sat down in a chair opposite them, looking sternly at them all.  Her sisters stood behind her.  

     "Lily," said Remus quickly, "James and I didn't write any of them." 

     "I know," she said shortly, sorting out the letters and setting each one before its author on the table between the chair and couch.  "But you're going to stay and listen to this anyway." 

     "Oh, go on Lil," Sirius broke in.  "We only did this for your own good!" 

     "You did?" she said, raising her eyebrows questioningly.  

     "Well, yeah-" 

     "You honestly though this was going to _work?" _she cried, slapping her hands down on Sirius and Peter's piles.  

     "Well..." David trailed off.  "The second and third ones were supposed to emphasize the point, not repeat it.  I guess we should have checked each others before sending them..." 

     "And even if they didn't work," put in Sirius, "they could at least give you reasons why you should break up." 

     Lily looked at him in disbelief, then took up one of Peter's letters and read it aloud.  " 'Snape.  I wish I had never met you.  Don't you ever speak to me or ever come near me ever again, or I'll tell my friends to hex you.  Lily.' " She set it back down.  "One: Peter, you used too many 'ever's.  Two: oh, that gives us lots of wonderful reasons to break up." 

     Sirius leaned forward, holding up one, and then two fingers like Lily had.  "One: that's Peter – what do you expect?" ("Hey!") "Two: what about my letters?" He picked up his.  "You _are_ too different, and I'm sure this one made him consider the effect you'll have on his reputation." 

     "For your information, it didn't, and we are not," she snapped.  Then she sighed and rested her elbows on her knees, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips before raising her head.  "Look," she said slowly, "you are my friends, and I do respect your opinion, but you don't have a right to tell me who to date and who not to date.  I know you don't like my seeing Severus, but try to get over it.  Okay?" James was staring at the ground.  Sirius had crossed his arms defiantly.  David was nervously glancing from Rose to Lily.  Remus just shrugged.  He wasn't taking sides.  Peter was glancing at them all.  Lily groaned.  "Fine.  I know you're going to try again – at least you will, Sirius, and probably Peter.  Go ahead.  Severus and I have set up a special code for each time we send each other a letter, so we'll know if it's fake or not." It was actually the wrong tense – that's what she was planning to do tomorrow morning.  But Lily tossed her head, got up, and started walking up the girls' stairs.  

     "Oi!" David shouted.  "What about us?" 

     "I really don't care," came her voice from the top of the stairs, beyond their line of sight.  "You can just stay there all night." 

     "Really?" Mary asked, sounding amused and interested as she stood at the bottom of the staircase looking up.  She could arrange that.  

     "No.  Go ahead and let them go." Five wands fell in a rather controlled descent.  Mary caught them, preformed the counter curse on the boys, and distributed the wands.  They expected this; they knew Lily wouldn't really leave them there.  With many sullen looks toward the girls' stairs, they walked up their own.  

     The next morning, after breakfast, Lily was in the library, sitting at a table and flipping through several books.  She had only been there for a few minutes when Severus stepped out of the bookshelves and before she could say anything, he bent over and kissed her.  It was several moments before he stopped and finally sat down next to her.  Lily's eyes were rather bright.

     "Was there a special occasion for that?"

     "As a matter of fact, there was," he replied, smiling.  "A week ago was our first date."

     She laughed.  "It's only been a week!"

     "I don't care.  I had to find some excuse." He took her hand.  "What happened last night after I left?"

"Oh, Rose, Mary, and I chased them all the way to our tower.  I defrictionized the floor to make them all fall, then did the Leg-Locker Curse so they couldn't run away.  I took away their wands, lined them up on a sofa, and yelled at them for a while as they tried to argue.  In the end I just told them we had developed a code for any messages we send, so they couldn't do it again."

Severus raised his eyebrows.  "We did?"

"We're going to.  In fact, right now." But as Lily started to explain her ideas, Rose walked up.

"Hi guys," she said cheerfully, sitting on the table.

"Hello Rose," Severus said.

Lily questioned, "Where are the boys?"

"Distracted."

"Really?  Doing what, specifically?"

"Practicing Quidditch.  Should keep them busy for a few hours.  They lent Remus and Peter a couple of brooms."

"That's good.  Why aren't you with them?"

"Because it's not an official practice."

"Ah."

"I just came here to say that Lily, you need to tell our parents soon about your boyfriend."

She gasped.  "I do need to, don't I?"

"It's okay; we'll work on it together later." Rose assured her, and then glanced at Severus.

"Lily told me your house isn't going to have a problem with it."

"No, seeing the only beings there are my house-elves."

"That's good.  Well, I'll leave now so you can get back to whatever you were doing – I'll go and make sure they stay distracted.  Bye Lily, Severus."

The couple said goodbye as she left, and Severus commented, "She's nice.  A lot like you."

A smile flashed across her face.  "Thanks.  Okay, look what I have here – we need something that the boys can't read.  I'm thinking either a code or a disguise – you know, they see it as a piece of homework or something."

"Why not just make it invisible?"

"We can do that too.  What do you think?"

He tilted his head back.  "Well, I have a few good spells in mind – wait, how are we going to keep them from forging letters to us?"

"We need to come up with some sort of special mark – a very unique one.  Something they'll never guess." She bit her lip, thinking.  "Severus, what was your mother's maiden name?"

"Er – Sahn.  S-a-h-n."

"Okay.  Every time I write you a letter, I'll write Sahn underneath my signature." 

"And what about disguises?"

Lily explained their options in detail, and they chose to make their notes invisible to everyone's eyes except their own.  They went on to charm a few of their quills so that whatever they wrote using them would become automatically invisible.  Severus cautioned her to never accidentally use them on her homework, which made her laugh.   He suggested several hexes that they could put on the notes that would hit the boys if they read them (i.e.  their eyes burst into flames that could only be quenched by a special salt that can only be found on the east coast of Borneo), but Lily said no.  Severus considered telling her about his idea, but decided not to.  It would be a surprise.

"As a last precaution," Lily told him, "if one of us ever decides to break up – I know, I know, don't give me that look – we will tell the other face to face.  Not through a note.  That way we'll know for sure."

"All right."

Lily blew out her breath.  "Okay – I think that's all.  I just wish there was some way we can spend more time together.  We hardly ever get to see each other."

Severus smiled sympathetically, rubbing her wrist with his thumb.  

Before either could say anything else, James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter emerged from an aisle, moving toward their table.  All of them were sweaty and dirty.  James was carrying a goblet of something.  Sirius was grinning.

"Hey Lil," he said.  They completely ignored Severus.

"Hello," she replied, eyeing them suspiciously.  Severus narrowed his eyes.  If they were planning to harass her-

"Right to the point," Sirius said briskly, clapping his hands on the table.  "Lil, you claim to – going against every sane principal and thing in this world – actually, truly, of your own will and choice, _like_-"

"Black, why don't you just shut up and leave before I get out my wand and make you?"

Sirius turned to him, shaking his head in a way that let them know he couldn't believe he was being interrupted.  "You know, Snape, I wasn't even talking to you, stay out of the bloody-"

Lily stood up.  "Sirius, that's my boyfriend you are talking to." There was a very tense silence, and then Lily whispered, "Now, either say what you were going to say, without the sarcasm and insults, or, if it's not that important, leave."

Sirius stared at the table for a moment, jaw tight with anger, then looked up calmly at his friend.

"Lil, you say that you like Snape, right?"

"Of course," she said sharply.  "Very much too, or he wouldn't be worth fighting with you guys over." David and Remus glanced at each other.  James stared into the goblet, but not for long.  Sirius took it from him and slammed it roughly in front of Lily.

"Then you wouldn't object to drinking an Anti-Love Potion."

Lily studied it, and then glanced at Severus, who was sitting back in his chair, looking highly amused.  He shrugged.

"I don't care.  It isn't going to change anything." 

She picked the goblet up, holding it to the light as though to inspect the clear red liquid.  Her friends looked delighted.  Thoughtfully she carried it to the window, now holding it to the sunlight as she pushed the glass pane open a few inches.  Just as thoughtfully she turned the goblet upside-down, allowing the wine-like liquid to spill out onto the grounds below.  Simultaneously, the boys' looks of glee turned to outrage.

"What are you thinking?" David burst out.  "That potion took us an entire hour to make!"

But Lily lifted one hand to stop their protests.

"There are two kinds of Anti-Love Potions.  There are Anti-_Love Potions_, which work strictly against concocted Love Potions.  Then there are Anti-_Love_ Potions, which work strictly against feelings of love.  In short, I don't trust you."

All of their mouths fell open, except Severus's, who simply raised his eyebrows.  Even he hadn't thought of that.

Lily quickly continued.  "But, just to completely demolish any ideas you might still have about Severus continually dosing me with Love Potions, I am going to go to our common room right now and make a real Anti-Love Potion.  Severus, I'll be back here in a little while."

He shook his head, getting to his feet and taking her hand in a possessive way that he knew would infuriate his enemies.  It nearly killed one of them.  "Lily, aren't we finished anyway?  You can stay in your tower and write that letter with Rose."

She hesitated.  "Oh – okay...well, if you're sure you don't mind..."

"I don't," he assured her.  Then, after a moment of thought, he kissed her.  He knew exactly what he was doing – kissing her in front of her friends.  He was determined to prove to them what he and Lily had was real – and this was the best way possible.  So he was sure to make it a show, though he meant it, of course.

By the time he released her, her cheeks were flushed and her eyes quickly flickered over to the boys.  When Severus saw their faces, he wished he had a camera.

J.  Potter was blissfully ignorant of what had happened – he was staring at the ground, where the goblet had been held above it.  But the rest of them – oh, it was priceless.

Each of them had an expression that was roughly equivalent to what it would have been if Albus Dumbledore had suddenly walked in, having completely shaved his head and beard, off, adorned in nothing but his underpants, and proceeded to lightly slap all of them, after which he announced his elopement with a Muggle girl named Marge Dursley.  Their expressions were ones of absolute disgust, revulsion, and sheer shock.  Severus loved it.

Fifteen minutes later, Severus was standing alone in the middle of an old, small, classroom on the sixth floor, holding his wand and the roll of parchment on which he had begun to sketch his idea.  It was a very old room – he doubted anything had ever crossed over the threshold in the last fifty years.  It only had about a dozen desks, and a larger one that the teacher must have used.  The room was probably used for a special class.  At any rate, it was perfect.

He started by transfiguring one of the desks into a small table, where perhaps a radio or clock could be placed.  Another three desks became a dresser, which was levitated against the wall.  A couple more were turned into a table with two chairs – for meals.  He had just turned to the teacher's desk when a sound from far down the corridor caught his ear.  After a second, he recognized it: Peeves.

Severus didn't try to hide his work; he simply faced the door, and levitated a glass jar out of the bag next to the doorway to him, which he nonchalantly held behind his back.  He had expected Peeves, of course, and he knew exactly how to deal with him.  Even a poltergeist could be put to use.

Peeves burst into the room, his beady eyes glittering maliciously.

"What do we have here?" he exclaimed, looking down at Severus.  "Snapey playing with the furniture of a classroom?  Naughty naughty, you'll get caughty!"

Severus frowned slightly.  In his first year he had overheard Peeves saying that same line with a third year.  He wondered how long he had been using that.

"It's my duty to tell one of the staff," Peeves was saying.  "The only question is which one, which one.  Filch or McGonagall?  Well, since you're using Transfiguration, and McGonagall is the-"

He decided it had gone far enough.  Raising his wand, he muttered an incantation he had first leaned when he was eight.  Peeves was cut off as suddenly his form began to twist and stretch, then spinning like a tornado to the jar Severus quickly held up.  Once every bit of Peeves had been crammed into it, he slapped on the lid, then tapped on it with his wand, which turned the lid to glass, which melted perfectly with the sides.  Now it was a glass jar with no holes, lids, or openings.  Severus began to lightly toss it into the air and catch it – with one hand.  Peeves, reduced to a fog-like substance, was sputtering incoherently.

"Ever heard the Muggle stories about the genie in the bottle?" Severus asked him brightly.  "Now we have a poltergeist in a bottle!" Even though the victim was barely more than a vapor, his furious face could still be made out.  "And before you try to break out," he went on unconcernedly, continuing to throw the jar up in the air, "you should know that I didn't put an Unbreakable Charm on it.  Oh no.  It's something much more complex.  If this glass shatters" -he caught it and tapped the side with his fingertip- "so will you.  Basically, whatever this glass contains will immediately become like glass if it breaks.  See?"

It was amusing to watch the change in the mist's features.  For good measure he added, "And one more thing." He threw the jar higher than he had before, caught it, and told him, "I'm not left-handed." Peeves looked clueless until Severus raised his right hand – the one holding his wand – and waved it in front of the jar.  "_This_ is my right hand."

Now the imprisoned poltergeist was terrified.  "Mr. Snape, sir, I was only joking with you!  I wasn't going to turn you in!  You know that I'm not on good terms with Filch or McGonagall-"

"Oh really?" Severus questioned acidly, tossing it up and nearly missing on purpose.

Peeves surrendered.  "I'll do anything, sir, anything!"

"That's good, Peeves," he said coldly.  "That's very good.  Because you _will_ do anything _and_ everything.  Are you listening?"

"Yes, sir!"

"First and foremost, you will not tell anyone, living or dead, about this room.  Secondly, if you see a teacher or a student examining the wall where the door was, you will throw them off track – make up an explanation.  Thirdly, you will never enter or attempt to enter this room again.  Fourthly, you will never harass, directly or indirectly, a fifth year Gryffindor named Lily Evans.  She's a prefect.  Do you know her?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Good." A thought occurred to him.  "Or her sisters, Rose Evans and Mary Evans.  You should know them also.  Now, these rules are in effect as long as you stay at Hogwarts.  If you ever break one in the slightest way, I _will _find you, I _will_ catch you, and _when_ I do, you will wish you were back inside this bottle.  Are you clear?"

"Yes, sir!"

Severus tapped the top of the jar again, making it disappear completely.  Peeves shot out of it, the room, and down the hall like a bullet.  Very pleased with how he handled the would-be nuisance, the Slytherin turned to the large desk.  That went well.  Back to business.

He wanted to make it a bed, but something told him Lily would find that far too suggestive.  A sofa would be too little.   He made a compromise, and turned it into a futon.  Next he built a fireplace into a wall – that was harder.  Once that was complete, he turned the extra desks into pebbles and tossed them out the window.  No loss.  Dumbledore could make new ones any time he wanted.  The windows were made to appear as part of the wall from the outside.  He saved the hardest part for last – the door.

Severus studied it for several minutes before beginning.  It was tricky, really – he wanted the door to completely disappear, opening only from the outside under his or Lily's wand, and from the inside under their touch.  

It was very frustrating.  Once he did manage to erase the door, he couldn't open any exit at all, and right before he was about to give up and climb out the window, the door reappeared – in its original state.

But in the end, finally, the wall made a hole under his touch or wand.  

Tired but pleased with himself, it was nearly past ten o'clock at night when Severus put his hand against the wall, causing it to make a door-size hole for him to exit.  Tomorrow he would introduce Lily to their room and install her power over the wall.  Oh, that would be fun.

Earlier that day, while Severus had just started his work on the classroom, Lily was entering her common room, closely followed by her sulking friends.  They hadn't said anything the entire way, which unsettled her quite a bit, but merely stared at her as though she had done something heinous.  Truthfully, the five boys had finally seen something that was beyond words, even for Sirius.  To see one of their best friends let a boy that they loathed for years and honestly believe deserved no one do something like that to her...they were silenced.  Temporarily.

Lily went to a table that still had a cauldron and a Potions book on it.  James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter stood silently in a semi-circle in front of her.  Sirius took a deep breath, trying to ensure his voice wouldn't shake.

"There is going to be a day when you regret that."

She looked up at him sharply.  "Oh, Sirius, please don't start that up again.  I'm about to prove to you that it's real, so can you please save all your comments until afterward?" He frowned, crossing his arms defiantly.   Sighing, the prefect pushed her hair behind her ears and started on the potion.  She worked in silence, intent upon her task, grateful for all the little tricks and tips Severus had taught her.

Finally, it was done.   Ladling the required amount into the goblet Peter had, she raised it into the air, regarding it squarely, and then downed it in a single gulp.  

The boys watched her anxiously with bated breath, perhaps James most anxious of all.  Perhaps – just perhaps – she was acting under the influence of a potion – he could still ask her out.  They could have a fresh start.  It would work, he knew it.

"Well?" Sirius pressed impatiently.

She fixed him with her icy green eyes.  "Well what?"

"How do you feel about Severus Snape?" he specified.  "What are you going to do about him?"

Lily tilted her head back, pondering her answer, and then answered with decision, "I'm going to go write a letter to my parents about my new boyfriend." Before they could react, she disappeared up her stairs.

With a groan James fell backwards into an armchair.  "They're _never_ going to break up – they're going to get _married_-"

"Don't be stupid," said Sirius roughly, spinning around to face his best friend.  "They're so different I'm shocked they've made it this far.  You know Snape; you know Lily.  Can you think of any other two people who are more complete opposites?"

"You and McGonagall?" Peter offered.

Sirius glared at him.  "You aren't helping!" he hissed.

Peter shrugged, embarrassed.  "Sorry."

The black haired boy turned back to James.  "Listen, you know they're not going to last long.  Don't give up."

"Yeah..." James stood and drifted up to the boys' dorm.

After dozens of crumpled up attempts to write their parents a letter that wouldn't make them keel over in shock.  Lily and Rose finally had one that they believed was as good as it was going to get.  They called Mary, who was doing homework in her own dorm, to come proofread it.  

_Dear Anetka and Nicki,_

_How are you?  I hope things are going all right at home and Petunia and __Vernon__ aren't having any problems.  Everything's fine here – the boys haven't been expelled yet or even suspended.  Lily's still top of her year, with James coming right behind.  David and Rose are fine too._

_Speaking of relationships, Lily's finally accepted a date from a boy.  He's very nice to both of us.  His name is Severus – we'll send you a photo of him as soon as possible._

_We love you and can't wait to see you again!_

_Your daughters,_

_Lily and Rose_

Mary nodded.  "Do they even know who he is?"

"The boys might have mentioned _Snape_," Rose admitted.  "But I'm almost positive Anetka and Nicki don't know his first name."

"They're going to ask what house he's in," Mary warned, sitting down.  "Along with his life story."

"I know..." Lily restlessly stood and moved to stare out the window.  "I'll just tell them when they ask.  That's all."

Both her sisters and she both knew that wasn't all, but there wasn't any point in saying so.


	12. Part Three of Book Six

**_Part Three_**

The next day, when Lily, Rose, and Mary were walking back from a short visit with Hagrid (Lily couldn't bring herself to shock Hagrid with the news of her and Severus), they met Severus waiting impatiently by the doors of the castle. He nodded briefly at the younger two.

"Hello Rose, Mary. Lily, can you spare a few minutes? I have something to show you." Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the stairs.

"Er – sure – see you later!" Lily called back to her sisters, trying to keep up with her boyfriend. "What is it, Severus?"

"You'll see," he replied, smiling mysteriously down at her. "I'll tell you this, though: it's for us, something I made that will let us spend more time together, hopefully." Curious, she followed him up the six floors. Finally he stopped midway down a corridor in front of a stone wall. Lily looked at him blankly. He held out his hand. "Let me see your wand."

Puzzled but trusting, she took out her wand and laid it across his palm. Severus took out his own wand and held them together, putting the tips in the crack that would open the wall, concentrating on the same but slightly altered incantation that he had done with his wand. It worked – a deep blue light spread outward from the tip of her wand on the wall and down the entire length of her wand. Severus's hand tingled where it was touching it.

"What did you do?" Lily asked uncertainly. In answer, he gave her back her wand with the instruction,

"Place it at that line like I did, and say, '_Seclaudere_'."

Lily was an obedient girl. With only a curious glance at him, she set it where directed, murmuring, "_Seclaudere_."

From the tip of her wand a circular hole started to grow, the stone seeming to melt away until it was tall enough for them to step through. Lily's mouth opened in amazement as she stared around at the table, bureau, fireplace, nightstand, and futon. Grinning, Severus sat down on the futon in front of her.

"Wow...oh my God, Severus...you did all this?"

He nodded, still grinning. "I did it all yesterday."

"This is amazing. I didn't know you could do something like this."

"Never underestimate a Slytherin."

"I'll bear that in mind." She flashed him a smile as she turned back to look at the hold in the wall – but the stone had returned, and was looking as solid as ever. Somewhat taken aback, Lily glanced around, realizing for the first time that there were no doors, and only one window six stories up. She was very securely shut in with Severus Snape. Now, he had never given her reason to think he would ever hurt her, in any way, shape, or form, but still, she couldn't quite keep it out of her mind that he was a Slytherin.

He correctly guessed what was bothering her. "You don't know very much about me, do you?"

Blushing, she shook her head. "Well – not really – I mean, not as well as some people I know-"

"It's all right," he said smoothly. "Sit down; I'll explain something to you." Obediently she sat on the futon, facing him. He took her hand, looking straight into her bright green eyes. "I don't know what your idea of a typical Slytherin is, perhaps a guy who goes around grabbing every pretty girl he sees." She reddened even more, but he continued, "I can't speak for the rest of my house, but I can tell you I'm not like that. I" -he hesitated, knowing that after only a week his feelings couldn't qualify as love- "care about you far too much to ever make you do something you don't want to. So let this be clear: I'm never going to force you to do anything. If we're here, or anywhere, and you feel things are going too far, tell me to stop, and I will. If I don't, slap me. That should snap me out of it." Lily laughed, somehow feeling much more at ease than she had. He stood, pulling her to her feet as well. "Now let me start proving it to you I mean it." Severus placed her wand hand; fingers spread, on the stone divider, then set his hand on top, casting the spell that enabled Lily to exit by herself.

They spent the rest of the afternoon there, talking about various things and trying to work out when they could slip away and up here. Lily point-blank refused to miss any classes, and he asserted he didn't expect her to. They did decide to try to eat lunch or dinner in here a few times a week. Severus warned her to never tell her friends so much that they even had a room, but he relented enough for Lily to tell her sisters so, though any hint of the location was to never pass through her lips. She reluctantly agreed.

The next morning in the Great Hall something happened that forced the boys to admit that Severus' interests in their friend were truer than they had first thought.

Lily, Rose, Mary, James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter still had their usual places at the Gryffindor table. That had not changed. After briefly questioning her about where she had been yesterday, the boys had given up, and they were thus having one of the most peaceful meals in a while.

Severus turned around at his table, trying to make eye contact with Lily. After a few minutes of talking with Remus, she looked up at him. He motioned for her to come over where he was. Lily hesitated for a moment – a Gryffindor at the Slytherin table? – but stood up and walked across the Hall anyway. Most of the Great Hall went quiet – a large percentage knew about the new match, and it bewildered them all.

Lily sat down in the empty space next to him, and he started to speak – but was interrupted by the boy on the other side of Severus, Bulstrode by surname, who drawled contemptfully, "Oh, come on Snape, don't bring that Mudblood bi-"

He never completed the word. Severus's fist hit his nose and mouth with so much force that Bulstrode was thrown out of his seat, onto the floor, where he skidded backwards toward the Ravenclaw table.

All around people were gasping and standing up, and the ones that had witnessed the act were eagerly retelling it in a whisper to those around them. Lily's sisters and friends, who had seen, if not heard, the incident, had rushed over.

Severus himself had stood, and was starting toward the offender, who had raised himself on his elbows, touched the blood dripping out of his mouth and nose, and swore. Lily also had jumped up, and she now moved in front of Severus, putting her hands on either side of his face, looking straight into his stony black eyes, and saying loudly,

"Severus, listen to me. He's not worth it. He's not worth getting in trouble over."

James, David, and Sirius's jaws simultaneously dropped. Peter, with some puzzlement, stated the obvious.

"Hey, isn't that what she used to say to us when we were fighting with him?"

Professor McGonagall suddenly appeared. "What happened?" A Ravenclaw quickly related the happenings, and she paused. It was always hard to punish two offenders from the same house. Finally, she issued, "Mr. Bulstrode, a detention, and Madam Pomfrey will see you in the hospital wing. Mr. Snape, twenty points from Slytherin. Back to your seats, students, and finish your breakfast. Classes will be starting in a few minutes. Go on, now. Miss Jorkins, contrary to what you obviously think, that does include you."

Mary awkwardly stepped up to Severus. "Good job," she whispered. He just shrugged. As if he was actually going to let someone say that about Lily.

A few days later Lily, Rose, and Severus were outside the castle in the courtyard, Lily and Severus sitting on one of the stone benches and Rose standing in front of them, holding a camera. They were taking a picture for the sisters' parents.

"You don't have to be six feet apart, side by side is fine..." Rose critiqued. "Holding hands is okay too, but for God's sake don't look so possessive with the arm over her shoulders, Severus."

"I hate pictures," Severus said through gritted teeth.

Rose finally lowered the camera to look at them. "This is _necessary!"_

"Fine, fine..." he rubbed his temples briefly before taking Lily's hand and wrapping his arm around her shoulders again. Lily sighed.

"Please hurry, Rose. This is making me nervous."

"I am..." Rose held up the camera to her eye again. "Smile, Severus, stop looking so Gothic."

"I don't like smiling either."

"Please?" Lily looked up at him pleadingly. "For me?"

He smiled at her, and, mentally freezing it, looked back up at the camera.

"Perfect." There was a click and a flash, and the couple relaxed.

"When are you sending it to your parents?" Severus inquired, standing up and walking toward Rose as the picture popped out of the camera and into her hand. Lily moved next to him, and he absent-mindedly slipped his arm around her waist.

"When they reply to our letter," his girlfriend's sister told him, handing him the photo.

Severus was surprised at how well it came out. The magical picture had Lily swinging her legs back and forth rather nervously, and she kept glancing up happily at him. The Severus in the picture smiled back, rubbing her arm.

"It's pretty good," Lily observed. He nodded in agreement. Rose slipped both the camera and picture inside her purse.

"Now we just have to wait until we get their response."

It came the very next day, plopping on Lily's toast. The letter contained the usual greetings, and a little note about how Petunia's boyfriend had gotten accepted for a part-time job at a drill firm, and so on. The Evans daughters could tell Anetka had written it, because it didn't bring up Severus until the last paragraph, where it asked if they could hear a little more about him, such as his house, surname, family history...

Lily had already written an answer, with a nonchalant admission he was in Slytherin, his full name, and an explanation that he was an orphan, put under a relative's care until recently. It made him out to be an extremely mature, responsible fifteen-year-old. Severus was amused when he read it.

The letter was sent, and the reply to it, seeming to be once again written by their mother, merely stated that they looked forward to meeting him. It was a chilling thought to Lily, Rose, and Severus. Mary, on the other hand, couldn't stop grinning as she thought about it.

The first Quidditch match was set for the first day of October – ironically, between Gryffindor and Slytherin. The boys started throwing little hints questioning which side Lily was supporting at her. James, David, Sirius, Rose, Mary, and the rest of the team (two new second-years fulfilled the vacant Chaser and Keeper positions) were working very hard to win this first match – the boys because they believed the Slytherin team and house represented Snape, and the girls and second-years simply because it was the first game of the year.

One afternoon Lily and Severus were in their room, Severus reclining on the futon and Lily sitting at the table distractedly working on Astrology homework. After a few moments of silence, she glanced up.

"You know about the Quidditch match next week, right?'

"I do," he replied without opening his eyes. "Slytherin against Gryffindor. Hilarious." There was a pause, and he finally rolled over onto his side, looking at her. "I'm not actually part of the team. Just a reserve Seeker."

"I know." She hesitated, then added, "You know – if you did play – I would cheer for you, except-"

"-For your friends and House," he finished idly.

"No, that's not it," she insisted. "Really, Severus, when have my friends or my house ever come before us?"

He grinned. "They haven't had much of a chance to, seeing we've only been together for barely a few weeks. But that's beside the point – why won't you cheer for Slytherin, pray tell?"

"Because my _sisters_ are on the team! Rose is a Chaser and Mary a Beater."

"Oh." Severus rolled onto his back again. "I'm glad you're not on the team."

"So am I," she said firmly. "I don't have the aim or coordination to be a Chaser of Keeper, or the strength to be a Beater, or the sight to be a Seeker."

"And I'm glad you don't," he replied frankly. "I like you the way you are."

Lily smiled appreciatively at him, and then returned to her chart, feeling somehow satisfied. A minute or so passed, and Severus abruptly stood up and moved to stand behind Lily. He leaned over, kissing her softly on the neck, and then slipped his hands beneath her shirt, onto her bare stomach. She gasped and flinched visibly.

"Your hands are _cold_!"

"They'll warm up," he said cheerfully, rubbing her sides. They did lose their frigidness, or perhaps Lily became accustomed to them. His hands slipped lower.

"Severus..." she warned.

"Sorry," he said quickly, lifting his hands back safely around her ribs. One day, he knew…if he took it slow enough. Pressing his face to her neck and shoulders, he whispered, "Blame gravity."

"And what if your hands go up?"

"Well, heat rises, doesn't it?"

She laughed.

The morning of October 1st found James, David, Sirius, Rose, Mary, and the two newest players, Jonathan Digress and Leslie Song, in the Gryffindor locker room. James, who was made captain a few years ago, was pacing nervously in front of them. Sirius and David sat calmly side by side, holding their brooms idly. Rose and Mary had both braided their hair into pigtails, and then coiled them tightly against their heads. It looked odd, perhaps, but they were taking no more chances. Last year Rose had been about to score, when one of the opposing team had grabbed one of her braids and pulled – hard, not only causing her to miss the shot but to nearly fall off her broom. True, David had grabbed Sirius' club and chased the offender around the pitch for a good five minutes, until his brother and Sirius finally caught up with him, but they didn't want to even give them an opportunity. As James paced, Rose was tightening Leslie's long black hair into a bun. Jonathan was nervously tapping his foot against the hard floor. Mary reclined on a bench, staring at the ceiling, her broom floating impatiently by her side. Finally, James spoke.

"Okay – our first match, so we shouldn't be too worried. Everyone mind your own balls – by that I mean Leslie, I don't want you looking for the Snitch, that's my job, yours is to watch the Quaffle if it comes your way – which it _shouldn't_-" -he whirled on Rose, David, and Jonathan- "because you three are going to keep it in the other side of the field, right? Jonathan – don't worry too much, Rose and David are a good match – and not just in Quidditch," he added, grinning at them. "Sirius, Mary, you know what I expect. None of us should even know that Bludgers exist. But the Slytherins should be very, very aware of them. Got it?" James's eyes were shining with excitement. He hadn't looked so alive in weeks – specifically, not since Lily and Severus started going out. He had always had a kind of obsession with Quidditch, but since then it had gone to a new level. He was spending all of his free time out on the pitch, practicing, practicing, practicing.

"Of course," Sirius sighed. "Let's go already."

Up on the stands, in the Gryffindor section, Lily sat nervously with Remus and Peter, a green bandana tied securely over her red hair. She had put it on with a sudden impulse that morning while getting dressed. It amused her sisters, but the boys, as expected, had a different reaction.

"I thought you were supporting Gryffindor!" David had exclaimed as she came down to the common room.

"Oh, I am," Lily had insisted, looking at them with wide, innocent eyes. "I did something much bigger than this to show my support for Gryffindor."

"Like what?" Sirius had questioned. "Did you get a tattoo?"

"Of course not. I dyed my hair red."

Later, out in the corridors, Severus had taken a double take when he saw Lily. With a grin he had gone up to her, whispering in her ear, "That's my girl."

Sirius had called after him, "Well, she dyed her hair to support us! So...yeah…." he had ended lamely.

Now the three friends sat together watching as the teams rose into the air and began playing. Lily was praying that nothing would happen to the Slytherin Seeker. She did _not_ want her boyfriend going against her friends.

The game, as all Slytherin-Gryffindor games more or less are, was fast-paced and tense. Rose and David scored several times, but Leslie, unused to the Slytherin Chasers' sheer aggressiveness, missed quite a few hard and fast shorts. Soon the score was tied: 70 – 70.

James was flying high above all the others, searching desperately for the Snitch. He didn't know why, but he felt an especially strong urge to win this match. Maybe he wanted to do it for Lily – or to spite Snape. He let himself be distracted for a moment, watching the lead Slytherin Chaser dart up toward Leslie and shoot the ball at her. Leslie moved to block it, but it never reached her. Mary, with astounding aim, had hit a Bludger down where it connected squarely with the Quaffle, knocking it cleanly away. The stands oohed.

Grinning, James stole a quick look at the Gryffindor section, searching for his friends. It was easy; Lily's green bandana clearly stuck out in the sea of red and gold.

A great shout arose – James turned back to the game to see the Slytherin Seeker, Vivienne Rakine, diving toward the Gryffindor hoops. Sirius was yelling, "Oi, James! Remember the little ball called a _Snitch_? That you're supposed to be catching right about now?"

Furious with himself, James was about to follow when he froze. Something distinctly golden was flitting around the bottom of the _Slytherin_ hoops. He realized it in a split second – Rakine was pulling a Wronski Feint. Without wasting another second, he dove toward it, away from Rakine. Distantly he heard the self-censoring commentator shouting, "What the beep? There can't be two Snitches!" followed by, a moment later, the wholly uncensoring Slytherin Keeper howling,

"Vivienne! Get your" -the commentator would have entered a "beep" right about here- "over here!"

But she never had a chance. James swooped down, made one of his easiest catches ever, and arced back up to the center of the field, holding the Snitch before him. Three-fourths of the stands were on their feet, screaming and cheering. Sirius was weakly hanging onto his broom, laughing hysterically. David was shouting,

"Oh, that was priceless, James! Priceless!"

Oh the ground, Rakine threw her broom against the ground in anger as her teammates landed behind her and started their accusations. At first she just kept walking away, shaking her head, and then she whirled back around, screaming back at them.

Up in the Slytherin stands, Severus closed his eyes and shook his head before heading down with everyone else. _He_ could have done better than that. Well, if anything could increase Potter's massive ego, this certainly would.

He wound through the disgusted Slytherins, laughing Ravenclaws/Hufflepuffs, and smug Gryffindors, to the eight best friends talking eagerly, including the one Severus was heading for – Lily.

Seeing him approach, the group fell more or less silent. Lily quickly moved over to him, looking rather anxious. Severus put his hand up to his mouth, not wanting to give his enemies the pleasure of hearing his next words.

"Congratulations, Lily," he said quietly.

She blushed. "Thanks. Er, your team played well, you got seven shots-"

He nodded carelessly, his eyes traveling across the field to the six Slytherin players huddled in a semi-circle against Rakine, still shouting at each other. "Until Vivienne decided to be smart." She smiled. Severus thought for a quick second, and then nudged Lily, pointing at Potter, Potter, and Black – who were listening – with a horrified expression. "Lily! I think their heads just got bigger!"

Rose stifled a laugh, turning away quickly. The boys scowled. In the same attitude, Severus turned to Lily and said urgently, "Quick, go to Dumbledore and tell him he needs to widen the corridors to make room for their enormous egos."

Lily laughed openly. Even Mary bit her lip, fighting a grin as she determinedly stared up at the clouds.

"Oh, hell no," Sirius said, staring at his fellow Beater. "You are_ not_ laughing."

Severus smirked. It was good to know Lily wouldn't leave him if he insulted her friends. He supposed she thought of it as a part of him, along with his House and expertise.

James glared at Severus as he said rather icily, "Come on Lily, we're going to celebrate in the Tower-"

"I think I'll just stay with Severus," she declined delicately. "You won't miss me." He leered at Potter, slipping his hands possessively on her shoulders. The twin paled.

"Fine. Hope you have a good time." Sirius said sharply, and the seven Gryffindors joined the masses heading back to the castle.

"You didn't have to do that," Severus told her as they broke apart from the crowd, walking toward the lake.

"I wanted to." she replied simply, taking his hand. "They didn't say anything after that; they had finally reached the stage where silences weren't awkward anymore. It was very nice, the sun disappearing behind the trees of the Forbidden Forest, the lake perfectly calm as they walked around it. Severus couldn't believe where he was. It was amazing, really – he was actually with Lily Evans, the girl practically every male in the whole school had tried to get. How did he get to be the one she finally said yes to?

They were just about to turn back to go inside, when Hagrid stepped out of his hut. His face broke into a smile when he saw Lily.

"Hello Lily," he greeted cheerfully. "Why-" he suddenly broke off as he recognized the tall, pale boy accompanying her.

Lily felt her face get hot. "Er, hi Hagrid. I guess you haven't heard that Severus and I are going out?"

He looked dumbfounded. "You – an' him – are a couple?"

She nodded, feeling her face burning. Severus said nothing, but took a tighter grip on her hand.

Hagrid shook his head. "Lily, could I have a word?"

"Sure," she answered, glancing at Severus.

"I can wait," he said expressionlessly.

Lily hurried up to Hagrid, who moved off to the side of his hut. He looked down at her seriously.

"Do yeh mind tellin' me what brought this about?"

She flushed redder than ever. "Well – I just gave him a chance, and he turned out not to be as bad as everyone thinks he is."

He shook his head. "Lily, he's a _Slytherin. _The boy knows more o' the Dark Arts than mos' Slytherin seventh-years – I know it. And – yer such a good girl, I'd hate ter see yeh-"

"What, you think he's going to corrupt me or something?" she asked skeptically.

"It would be easy enough fer him to."

"Hagrid!"

He shook his head again. "Lily, just be careful, that's all I'm sayin'. He may seem nice now, but remember all he's capable of. Keep yer head on while yer 'round him. I'm not yer dad, but I'm just sayin' I don't like it."

Sighing, she replied, "Hagrid, I really value your opinion, but I know what I'm doing. I have my reasons, okay?"

The couple left Hagrid's, but instead of walking to the front doors, they detoured to the Owlery – not for any specific reason. Severus showed her his owl, Apollo, and then he sat down on the large bales of hay against the wall under the small window.

Lily suddenly realized how tired she was. The game had lasted nearly all day. Without hesitating she laid down by him, her head in his lap. Severus smiled down at her, absentmindedly pulling off her bandana, allowing her bright red hair to spread over his lap messily. Her own smile grew and she closed her eyes sleepily.

Severus leaned back, pushing his fingers through her hair gently, trying to think of a spell that would freeze time as his girl slowly drifted off. If only they could really stay like this forever – no more worrying about her parents, or oh-so-loyal Gryffindor friends, or the disappearances occurring all over Britain...

His thoughts were interrupted by a distant pair of voices and footsteps growing louder as they approached the door. He scowled, wishing they would go away and afraid they would wake Lily.

Of all the students in Hogwarts, he couldn't have been luckier. Rose and Mary walked in, the latter holding a letter. As soon as Rose saw them, a wide smile appeared on her face, and she gave Severus a knowing look. Mary took one look at her idolized sister sleeping in her former enemy's lap and turned sharply away, walking to the back of the Owlery to choose a school owl.

Rose had recently developed an obsession with taking pictures. Her parents had given her a rather nice magical camera for her birthday, and now she took pictures of nearly every picturable moment of every day.

So she moved in front of her sister and sister's boyfriend, taking out her silver camera. Upon seeing it, Severus frowned again, shaking his head. Rose lowered the camera from her face and gave him a look that clearly said she would have her way. He rolled his eyes as she positioned the camera again.

"You don't have to look at me," she said softly. "Just look out the window, or down at her."

Severus chose the latter, watching his girl – _his _girl – seep, her chest rising and falling evenly. The last rays of sunlight were shining through the window onto her hair and his long fingers entwined in it. The light had a marvelous effect on the red color; it seemed to practically glow, brighter yet darker than ever.

_Snap. _Severus looked up again, having almost forgotten about the picture being taken. Rose smiled again as she tucked the camera away. "See you guys later," she whispered, and walked out the door.

Mary, having sent the letter, moved forward toward them. Her eyes were on Lily until she finally stood in front of them, then she slowly looked up at Severus. The fourteen-year-old looked remarkably serious; her dark eyes flickered down at Lily once more, back up at his even darker eyes, and she spoke the words that would echo through Severus's mind for the rest of his life.

"Do you even realize what you have, or what you're doing? Lily – she's not like other girls. She won't just flippantly date a guy for the heck of it. She's special. Once you get her to love you, it's like she gave you a piece of her heart – a piece that you can do anything you please with. You can crush it in the most terrible way possible, and leave her scarred for life. And once she starts loving you, she'll never, ever stop. _Ever._Even if you hurt her, even if she falls in love and marries someone else. Which means that fifty years from now, you'll still have that power to hurt her. So you better be very, very careful of everything you say and do from now on." Mary's eyes hardened, and her voice, already a whisper, became almost like a hiss. "Because don't you dare hurt my sister."

She straightened, eyes still locked with Severus's, and abruptly whirled and moved out.

In the silence, Severus looked down at the undisturbed girl, and said aloud, "Why does everything think I want to hurt you?" Then, in a more puzzled but yet quieter tone, "Why does everyone think I _can_ hurt you?"

Days, then weeks passed, and Lily and Severus showed no sign of breaking up. In fact, it appeared that their relationship never had a hitch. But all couples have their disagreements, even Rose and David, and Lily and Severus had many, many more reasons to argue than the average couple. While they did have their little fights, it wasn't about their House or values or anything else like that. It was almost always over the same subject – Lily's friends.

Severus never asked her to stop talking to the boys, or anything like that. He just didn't like how so tight-knit they were. What follows was a classic example.

In mid-October Lily, Rose, Mary, James, David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were wandering aimlessly through the corridors of Hogwarts, going through various do-you-remembers of the past four years.

"Those were the days," Sirius sighed. "We were all so innocent and carefree. Ah, yes, back when no one ever dreamed one of us would one day sell their soul to the devil himself...Lil!" He concealed the last word in a cough. They laughed.

"I really ought to slap you," Lily said, shaking her head with some amusement.

"Oh, you don't have the heart to slap me!" he exclaimed, grinning down mischievously at her.

"You're right," she admitted with a little laugh. "I probably don't."

"No, but seriously," added Sirius, "you know the only reason I mess with you is 'cos I care about you, right?"

She smiled affectionately. "Yeah, I know."

They had reached the bottom of the staircase they were descending, and as they rounded the corner, they came face to face with – Severus.

"Speak of the devil – literally," David said under his breath.

Snape gave his usual glare for the males of the group, a quick nod to Rose and Mary, and finally turned his attention to the one he had been searching for.

"Lily-" he motioned for her to join him.

"All right," she said willingly, and stood on her tiptoes to give Sirius a quick peck on the cheek. Severus's eyes narrowed.

He didn't say anything until they were inside their room with the door melted shut behind them. It was a rule they had of always keeping their fights within the room. Lily never gave her friends the pleasure of hearing about their arguments – she only occasionally told Rose.

"What was that?" he said abruptly. She spun around to face him.

"What was what?"

"The _kiss_ on Black's cheek," he snapped.

"Oh." She smiled and shrugged carelessly. "Nothing. We had just been talking, and – it was nothing."

"It was _something_," Severus contradicted. "A kiss is a kiss, Lily."

"A _friend_ kiss," she argued, growing a bit irritated. "Severus, Sirius is like my brother. A really annoying, tormenting brother," she amended, "but still my brother. He drives me crazy half the time. I – I'm not even his type."

"I don't care," he cut in. "Lily, I never ask you to stop hanging around them. But do you have to _kiss_ them?"

"It's not like that!" she cried, and then took a deep, calming breath. "Look – we've been friends for nearly five years-"

"I _know_." he snapped. "Don't give me a history lesson."

"I'm not! Will you please just _listen_ to me for a second? The boys and I sleep approximately twenty feet away from each other. Sometimes closer when we fall asleep together in the common room, or when I go to their house in the summer. But the point is, every night we go into our Tower, and you have no way of knowing what I do. This – this relationship is based on trust. We can't check up on each other as much as couples from the same house can. If you can't believe that I won't do anything with them, or that that kiss doesn't and never will mean anything, I don't know if we can continue." An uncertain look crossed her face, and she added softly, "And you know I don't want that."

"Neither do I," he said quietly, moving closer and wrapping his arms around her. "I trust you."

They were quiet for a few minutes, until Lily breathed, "I wouldn't cheat on you, Severus. You don't deserve that – and I'm not that kind of girl."

Severus kissed her. "I know you aren't. And I wouldn't either. The absolute truth is that I've never seen another girl who half measured up to you. Anyway, I wouldn't hurt you like that." He tilted her head up with one hand to kiss her again.

That was usually how they made up; very rarely did they leave the room still angry at each other. Severus never raised his voice when they argued – he didn't have to. Lily hated arguing; she was usually the one who spoke the line that calmed both of them down.

The boys did eventually stop trying to break them up – probably because of David's lack of willingness to disappoint Rose, Remus's lack of willingness to frustrate Lily, James's lack of interest, Peter's lack of security, and Sirius's lack of support. Of all of them, Remus came to be on the best of terms with Lily. They still talked together, though avoiding the subject of her boyfriend. James stopped talking to her practically altogether, though she preferred it to Sirius's tormenting. He hardly ever gave her any rest about the fact she was dating a Slytherin. Perhaps that was the reason she started spending more and more time with Severus in their room. He was delighted to spend almost the entirety of weekends with her. As he explained once in a discussion with her:

"Don't you ever spend any time with your Slytherin friends?" Lily asked idly one day.

"What friends?" he queried. "Like I actually associate with those idiots."

"Really?" she asked, surprised. "The boys always said that you were really close with them – huddling in corners to practice your Dark Arts-"

Amused, Severus smiled. "When will you realize that every word your friends tell you about me are all lies, and they're just hanging around you because you're beautiful?"

Laughing, she retorted, "Well, since I've sold my soul to the devil himself, it shouldn't be too long now." She had told him about Sirius's comment.

He grew suddenly serious. "But really, Lily, I've never wasted my time with any of my classmates. They think they know so much about the Dark Arts – they think all those spells and incantations are so cool – idiots," Severus said softly. "Well, sure, they might know _about_ them, and what the effects are, but they have no comprehension whatsoever of the real power behind them – of how they can really affect the mind and soul..." His eyes seemed to be far away, contemplating on something, but they suddenly came back to earth, and he smiled – or smirked – again. "Of course, an ever-so-pure Gryffindor wouldn't be interested in hearing about it." The fact that he was seeing a Gryffindor did not lower his contempt for the House in general.

She sat up straight in her chair, indignant. "We are not like that!"

"Yes, you are," he countered, still smirking, "You're so_ pure_, and _self-righteous_, and _lofty_ – and _defensive_," he added quickly as she opened her mouth to protest. She closed it. What could she say to that?

He gave a low laugh. "I'm only teasing you."

She grinned back. "I know."

That was all he ever said about it. He never gave a sign that he wanted close friends of his own, or was envious of her five loyal ones – except just once. Lily was going through a large box of photographs with him, mainly ones of her family. His face was impassive through nearly all of them, but then they came to one Natalie Potter had taken of her sons, the three sisters, and Sirius during the summer of their first year, when they were relaxing in the pool. The magical picture showed Sirius suddenly grab Lily and pick her up above the water, as though showing his great strength as she laughed. James quickly copied the action with Rose, and David reached for Mary, but she splashed him in the face, and while he tried to clear the water from his eyes she quickly moved behind him and dunked him. For just a moment the blank look fell away from Severus's face, and Lily caught a glimpse of a wistful, longing expression of a lonely boy. In an instant the mask of nothing reappeared, and he carelessly pushed the picture back toward her, but Lily put her arm around him gently, kissing him on the cheek.

So overall, their relationship was going smoothly. But a subtle side effect that no one noticed at first was happening – Lily was changing.

Severus hesitated at first to tell her about his forte with her, not sure if she wouldn't condemn it. But she didn't – perhaps to spite all of Sirius's insistences of how evil he was. That, and something seemed to happen to Severus when he started to talk about the Dark Arts. His black eyes seemed to light up; he looked much more alive than he usually did. For this reason she let him lecture all he wanted to on it, never realizing how much she herself was absorbing. It really was a fascinating subject, and Severus explained it exceptionally well – besides, Lily had a natural knack for learning. So she came to be familiar with the powers behind the enchantments, the histories of Salazar Slytherin and men like him.

"It's not really the magic itself that's so evil," he explained once. "But human nature – it has a tendency to manipulate everything it possibly can for evil, and with this it's just too easy."

She studied him. "Example."

"Well, take the Killing Curse. It wouldn't be illegal to use it if wizards only used it to kill Acromantulas or Nundus. But instead we have the urge to kill ourselves off."

"That makes sense, I guess. What about the Cruciatus Curse?"

"Oh, that's just pure evil."

"And the Imperius Curse?"

He haughtily raised his chin, looking down at her condescendingly. "Use your imagination, Evans."

She flung back her hair arrogantly, adopting the same disdainful, mocking attitude she had unknowingly picked up from him. "Well, Snape, I can't. My imagination went with my soul."

Severus, like all would-be Dark Arts experts, was intrigued by Practical Magic. He asked her to demonstrate by lifting things with her eyes shut, blowing on candles to light them, etc. While she was able to perform the simple things, she had to admit that she didn't know much else, explaining it was more of Mary's field.

But that wasn't the only change in Lily. Under her boyfriend's influence, her clothes changed. The colors became darker, more eclectic. That was fine with Severus. Also, she started laughing at more of Sirius's questionable jokes instead of shaking her head in disgust as she used to. The boys were shocked more and more as they gradually learned of her new lenient attitude toward the Dark Arts and everything else. They pulled her aside more than once, trying to convince her that Snape was turning her into someone else, but she refused to listen. Too late, they realized that because of their constant, undeserved criticism from the beginning, she now wouldn't listen to anything they said about her boyfriend.

Rose and Mary were more passive about it, but they still noticed, especially once when Lily asked Rose thoughtfully what their parents do if she got a cartilage piercing. Rose really wasn't too worried about it – she justified it away. After all, her sister wasn't doing anything dangerous. Mary refused to speak about it with any of the boys. Truthfully, she cringed every time she saw her sister idly mention a questionable use for a hippogriff's blood, but of course she never said a word to Lily about it, trying to take the same comfort that Rose did.

One night in the common room – Lily and Severus were in their room – in mid-November, James Sirius, Remus, and Peter sat at a table working, as they usually did these days, on their Animagi research. They were getting awfully close; Remus predicted that it would only a few more months. Rose and David were sitting together on the other side of the common room, talking quietly. Mary was lying on a sofa, her arms behind her head, one knee drawn up and the other leg balanced on top of it. A large book floated over her head, every now and then turning a page. Sirius had stopped working a few minutes ago, tapping his quill against the table in strict rhythm as he watched Mary.

"D'you think she'd say yes?" he asked suddenly.

James looked up. "Who?"

"Mary. If I asked her out, do you think she'd say yes?"

Peter's chin dropped. "You like Mary?"

"Yes, I like Mary. Now answer the question."

"I don't see any reason why she would say no," Remus replied.

"Good. I'll ask her now – before she gets snatched up by a Slytherin." He grinned at James, who winced slightly, as he stood up and walked over to Mary. Unlike his best friend, Sirius had no qualms whatsoever about asking a girl out.

"Hey," he said, plopping down in a chair next to her.

Mary sat up, the book shutting itself and falling down beside her. "Hey."

He didn't waste time with small talk. "I was wondering if you would like to go out with me. Please say yes."

Mary's heart stopped, dropped about a foot, then started again. So – Practical Magic had finally fulfilled itself. After five years of friendship – well, it was nice while it lasted. Too bad things would never be the same again. Well, they might be the same with the other four boys, but not him – why did he matter so much? Well, Love Potions usually made you love the person you made it for. Duh.

He snapped his fingers in front of her face. "Hello? Is anyone here? Should I leave a message?"

"Oh." She blinked, and then lay back down, opening the book again. "No."

Sirius was shocked. Not only was a refusal the last thing he expected, but one just like that. If she had said it in shock and disgust, he would have dropped it and never brought it up again, but she said it like she was turning down an invitation to come sit with them.

"So – that's it? No explanation?"

She turned a page, keeping her eyes fixed firmly on the lines of meaningless letters. "No. I have my reasons."

He was silent for a moment, depressed, then brightened unexpectedly. "You could change your mind!"

"No!" she exclaimed, surprised he still had any optimism left.

"Yes, you can," he said, grinning. "A girl always changes her mind." He got up and returned to his table, where his friends were waiting expectantly.

"She said yes?" James asked, mistaking Sirius's smile.

"Nope," he said cheerfully.

"Then she said maybe?" Remus guessed.

"Nope. She said a flat-out no."

"Then why the heck are you smiling?" Peter cried, greatly perplexed.

"Because she might change her mind."

This elicited a smile from the three fifteen-year-olds as they looked at each other, shaking their heads.

"You never give up, do you Sirius?" James sighed as Mary silently crept up the stairs to her dorm.

She sat on her bed, thinking for several minutes in the empty room, Suddenly the door flew open and Rose jumped onto her bed.

"Did Sirius just ask you out? Why didn't you tell me?"

Mary smiled slightly. "Sorry. I was going to."

"Why didn't you say yes? I think you would've made a good couple. You have a lot in common."

Of course we have a lot in common. You made sure of that, didn't you, Mary? You made sure you were a lot alike, seeing Practical Magic couples are usually so different...

"Why didn't you say yes?" Rose repeated.

"Oh...I didn't want to be bothered with a boyfriend. You know I like to sort of watch out for Lily..."

"Yes, but she has her own boyfriend now to protect her," Rose pointed out.

"Like I said, I watch out for her..."

Rose laughed. "I know. But seriously, I think Severus is pretty sincere."

Mary sighed. "I hate to agree with you, but you're probably right."

They were quiet for a few minutes, then the elder inquired, "Are there any circumstances under which you would say yes?"

She shrugged. "If Lily died. But there's hardly a chance of that happening, since she certainly isn't dying without me going down first."

"Me too," Rose said softly. Another short silence, then she persisted, "But is there any way you would give your consent with her alive?"

Mary considered this. "Once Lily's married – to someone I have confidence in – I might."

She laughed again. "So can I tell Sirius there is hope?"

The youngest grinned. "No. He already has too much."

Later, when Lily cornered her, Mary didn't tell the real reason why she said no, nor did she lie to her. She merely said she didn't feel like having a relationship right now.

Being his stubborn self, Sirius didn't lose an ounce of hope over the weeks. He indefatigably repeated his question at least once a week. Once he even got the clever idea of ripping up an entire roll of parchment into very small pieces, writing "Will you go out with me?" on each, and pelting her with them throughout the day. Frustrated, Mary ripped up _two_ rolls of parchment, writing, "NO!" on each scrap, blew them up to the size of a Bludger, also giving them the density of one, and pummeled him with them. On his sixteenth birthday, he got down and groveled, but she left him with his simple present – a new broomstick.

Lily was staying up later and later with Severus, though she always came back to her Tower. Rose usually stayed up, waiting for her. But one night, on the first of December, something different happened.

Lily had had a rather bad day. She had slipped on the way to breakfast that morning, rewarding her with a sprained ankle, and after that everything seemed to go wrong. She got a seventy percent on her unforeseen Divination quiz – she was a perfectionist, anything less than a ninety and she got upset. After their last class, she wearily limped through the portrait hole to be greeted by the ever-compassionate Sirius with,

"Well, if it isn't Mrs. Snape! Hasn't Dumbledore resorted you into Slytherin yet?"

It was just the last straw. Lily bolted as quickly as she could with her hurt ankle up the stairs before any of them could say another word. She pushed her dorm door open with an exclamation of vexation.

"Why is he so _stupid_?" She kicked her bed with her lame foot, which just doubled the pain. Not one to cry out, she gritted her teeth and fell onto her bed.

Alice poked her head out from the curtains of her own bed. "Lily?"

Startled, she sat up, blinking rapidly to keep her eyes clear. "Oh – sorry, I didn't know anyone else was in here."

The blond fifteen-year-old slid off her own bed and sat on the edge of Lily's. "Are you okay?"

Lily nodded, wiping embarrassedly at her eyes. "Yeah...Sirius just kind of got to me."

Now it was Alice's turn to nod, but understandingly. "About your boyfriend?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well...why don't you go spend some time with him where you go every time? That's what I do with Jason whenever I have a bad day."

She thought about it, and made up her mind. "All right. Tell Rose I'll be back kind of late, okay?"

Alice smiled and told her she would. Lily sent a magical message to Severus, knowing he would be glad to meet her on the sixth floor again. She was about to start up the staircase when Bertha Jorkins nearly crashed into her.

"Bertha!" she said, surprised.

The seventh year eyed her. "Where are you going?"

"Nowhere," she replied, trying to step around her, but she blocked her path.

"Your tower's the other way. Are you going to meet your boyfriend?"

"It's really none of your business, is it?" Lily snapped, starting to lose patience.

Bertha smirked. "That's a yes, right? So where do you two go all the time anyway?"

"I'm a prefect, Bertha. Don't push me," Lily warned

"Why are you in such a bad mood? You're limping, too. Did that Slytherin hit you?"

"Five points from Hufflepuff!" Lily exploded. "And one more fff-" she turned the vowel to a consonant at the last second- "bloody word, it'll be twenty, now get to your bloody Tower-"

Bertha shot down the corridor. The redhead stomped up the stairs, muttering angrily to herself.

Severus met her at the tapestry that hid the entire unused section of the sixth floor. "Are you all right?"

"No!" she wailed. "I swear I had the most incredibly awful day ever – I barely took three steps this morning when I tripped and practically broke my ankle, so I had to limp everywhere, including all the way to Divination, just to fail the stupid quiz she was supposedly told in a trance to give-"

He interrupted her by sweeping her up off the ground, holding her just like he had the first time, back in their fourth year. She locked an arm around his neck, pressing her face to his shoulder, and closing her eyes until he stopped before the wall. Lily pulled out her wand and poked the tip into the split. Once inside, he laid her down gently on the futon, pulling the velvet blanket up around her and lighting the fire – it _was_ December. Then he lay down next to her, wrapping his arms around her securely. They lay together for hours, not speaking, just watching the flames flicker.

Finally Lily whispered, "I don't want to go back."

"Then don't."

"I'm not."

She contemplated the small clock on the table. 12:40. She should be going back soon – but she was so tired, so comfortable with Severus holding her tightly against him, her back against his chest...she would just close her eyes for a few minutes...something was nagging at the back of her mind...what was it? Oh well, she was sure it didn't matter...she was just so tired...

Lily's eyes popped open. The fire had gone out, and sunlight from a cold blue sky was streaming through the window. For a moment, Lily wondered why such a peaceful atmosphere could seem so wrong, and it hit her – _she had spent the whole night with Severus. _Scrambling out of the covers, she dashed across the room to look at the clock, whereupon she let out a little shriek: half an hour until their first class.

Severus sat up groggily, his long black hair falling over his face. "Lily? What's wrong?"

She whirled to face him. "Severus! It's morning! We slept here!"

"So? We didn't do anything – you're still a virgin."

"_Severus! _My friends? They'll go straight to Dumbledore, saying you kidnapped me!"

He swore as he jumped off the futon.

"Okay, er, look, you just run to your dorm and walk to the Great Hall from there. I'll deal with them."

"Fine." He gave her a hurried kiss, and then dashed out. Lily snatched up her robe that she had tossed carelessly onto the floor the night before, and ran out, trying to fabricate a story as she rushed down the staircases. On the second floor, she started to push through a tapestry when she hit something hard, making her stumble backwards. The cloth was pulled back, revealing the something she had hit – Professor Dumbledore. His eyes twinkled.

"Why, hello Lily. Fancy running into you after having heard a most alarming tale of your abduction from your concerned companions."

She felt her face heat up. "Professor – I'm so sorry – he didn't kidnap me – I mean, I wasn't kidnapped – you see, I was, erm, staying up late studying, and I totally lost track of time. Severus, he just kept me company for a while. We didn't do anything, of course – I accidentally fell asleep – I'm really sorry, it won't happen again, I promise-"

He held up a hand to stem her stammered explanation, his smile growing. "No need to apologize, Lily, no need at all. I understand fully. And I'm quite sure it won't happen again. However, next time, be sure to inform one of your sisters beforehand. Now, I believe your friends aren't too far away; if you hurry, you should catch them." The Headmaster walked away, whistling cheerfully. Lily blinked a few times, and then started off in the direction he had pointed to.

She found them quickly; Rose, at the head of the search party of seven, ran forward to embrace her tightly, looking rather pale.

"He did _not_ kidnap me," she said firmly as they grouped around her. "I accidentally fell asleep, that's all. I promise I'll tell you in advance if it happens again."

"_Again?_" Sirius echoed. She ignored him.

"I'm fine, look, why don't all of you just go to breakfast, I'm going to go change..."

Rose and Mary accompanied her to their dorm. She glanced at them.

"Yes, that really is what happened. No, we didn't do anything other than lie next to each other."

"It's not like I don't trust him," Rose said softly. "But when I woke up this morning, and you still weren't there, I got really, really worried. And when I told the boys, they started coming up with all these theories of what Severus could be doing to you, and I got scared. That's why I didn't protest when they ran up to Dumbledore."

"I'm sorry I didn't come back," Lily muttered.

"It's all right," said Rose, sighing as she sat down on the edge of a bed. "Now I have fair warning."

She looked up in surprise from fastening her cloak. "Really? I mean, you won't freak out if it happens again?"

"Unless you don't show up for class, I won't freak out," she promised.

The elder turned to her youngest sister. "Are you all right, Mary? You're awfully quiet."

"Yeah," she muttered. Mary felt like she needed to add something, anything, but she couldn't. There wasn't anything she could say. She had never felt so helpless; Lily could have been hurt so easily, and there was nothing Mary could do about it. She didn't even know where she was. She wanted to trust Severus with Lily like Rose did, but she had never been given grounds to. Sure, he might have defended her, but it wasn't the same.

Lily watched her uncertainly a moment longer, then the three sisters went down to their classes.

The boys' treatment of Lily throughout the day was peculiar. It reminded her of the first time they had seen them kiss: a silence that made her feel like she had done something terrible. By dinner, it finally got to her.

"Will you stop it?" she cried, slamming down her glass. "Listen to the words that are coming out of my mouth: I – am – still – a – virgin." She banged on the table with her hand with each word. "Nothing happened last night, get it through your thick skulls. Quit with the silent treatment."

The boys glanced at each other, then David sighed and reached over with his fork to take a bite of her lasagna; they had stopped asking permission years ago. "Well, maybe we wouldn't if you had warned us in advance."

Lily smiled, relieved. "Believe me, I was as warned as you were. You think I meant to fall asleep? It was a complete accident. I knew you guys would freak out."

"We didn't freak out." Sirius protested, snapping the scrunchi on her wrist – a habit of his that drove her crazy, which was specifically why he did it. "We just – got really – _alert_."

She grinned. "_Right._"

All eight of them and Severus stayed for the Christmas holidays. Lily made it a policy to spend at least one night a week with Severus, and never more than four. The boys gave her the slightest of scowls as she walked up cheerfully at breakfast.

The morning of December 25th broke upon the room on the sixth floor to find a fire in the fireplace diminished to struggling embers, the cold remains of a Christmas Eve dinner, and a boy and girl asleep together beneath a few heavy blankets, her head on his chest, his arm wrapped around her waist. She awoke first; for a moment, lay still, arranging her thoughts, then sat up, leaving her boyfriend undisturbed. Lily studied him as he slept. He looked more vulnerable than normal – it was an expression she had only seen once or twice, and then never around people, only when they were alone. She was growing used to the characteristic mask of nothing, slowly learning to see through it. She knew now that every expression he made in public was of his own choice; nothing was involuntary. Impulsively she reached out to gently brush a strand of hair off his face. Severus's eyes opened. Lily smiled.

"Good morning," she said, bending down to kiss him before sliding off the futon. He rose up slightly, pushing back his hair as she hunted through a drawer of the wardrobe that usually held an extra change of robes – it was much easier to change there than going back to the dorms. She reappeared smiling and holding a dark red box, which she tossed to him as she reclaimed her spot beside him. "Merry Christmas!"

He looked surprised. "What's this?"

"A present! Go on, open it." Lily was still smiling, though nervously. She had no idea if he would like it or not.

Uncertainly Severus lifted the top off and smoothed back the dusky blue tissue paper. His eyes widened as he saw what it was and slowly picked it up.

It was a black leather journal – on the cover was an imprint of two runespoors symmetrical of each other. Around the border were silver runes – Severus recognized most of them to be…questionable. The two black covers and the irregular pages between them were bound with thin cords of leather. He opened it to the first page – there weren't any lines, but at the top Lily had written in her pretty script in green ink:

_We're making history, Severus, you and I; a Gryffindor and a Slytherin, two complete opposites fighting against centuries of prejudice and stereotypical views; but I believe we can make it. This book is evidence of it. _

Below it was a limning of him and her on their first date in Hogsmeade, walking down a street hand in hand. Beneath that was a copy of the picture Rose had taken to send to her parents. Severus turned through three or four more pages of pictures of them together throughout Hogwarts. The rest of the book was empty, but on the bottom of the last page she had written:

_With all my love, _

_Lily_

"Do you like it?" she asked anxiously. "I made it myself, though Mary drew that first picture. The runes are magical, you know, they can do spells and stuff on it – you can probably figure out more than I can."

His fingers touched the runes he knew in a simple pattern, and the runespoors hissed as the cords tightened. "You _made_ this?"

The redhead nodded. "I'm good at Charms – it wasn't too hard. So you like it?"

"Yes, I like it – very much. Thank you." She could tell he did sincerely like it, but there was awkwardness about his thanks that implied he wasn't used to showing his appreciation. He opened it up again and examined the photos. "Your sister is rather sneaky, isn't she? Following us around and taking pictures..."

Lily laughed. "Yeah, she was a bit."

He glanced at her again, and there was a secretive look in her eye that she was more used to. Without his wand he Summoned his cloak off the back of his chair and to him, and extracted a long black rectangular box from the pocket. "For you," he said simply, handing it to her. As she opened it, he added, "It's not as domestic or personal as yours, but I saw it in a Hogsmeade shop and thought you might like it."

Her eyes were wide as she lifted the intricate black choker up. It was made out of the smallest possible links possible, and had a black heart in the middle, which held a dark garnet. Another smaller garnet dangled below it. There were three horizontal oval loops on either side of the heart, though they could probably be more accurately described as skinny figure-eights that intersected at the chain. The four inner loops were filled with a garnet at the chain, and the outer two with only the frame.

"Oh my God, Severus – this is beautiful!"

He definitely looked pleased as she fastened it around her neck, and then lifted her chin so he could see it clearer. "How does it look?"

Silently admiring the effect against her pale skin, he replied honestly, "It's much better than I thought it would. You're – beautiful." The last word came out as a whisper – he meant it, but was unsure of saying it out loud.

Lily hugged him. "Thank you so much. I'm going to go show it off to my sisters and the boys. I'll be back in a little bit."

Part of the way down she met Dumbledore in a hallway. "Look, Professor, it's so cold my fingernails turned blue!" She held up her fingernails, painted a vivid blue.

He smiled. "What a singular effect, Lily."

She continued down through the empty corridors, greeted the Fat Lady with "House of Tudor", and paused in the common room, trying to discern where her friends were. She distantly heard laughter and talking drifting down from the boys' dorm, so she hurried up the stairs.

In the fifth year dorm Rose and Mary were sitting together on Remus's bed with wrapping paper on the floor around them and a pile of wrapped presents next to Rose. All five boys and a mountain of wrapping paper were sitting on the bed next to them, which happened to be Sirius's. They all looked up at her entrance.

"So, you managed to peel away from Snape for a few minutes to say hi to your old friends?" Sirius queried as a greeting.

"Merry Christmas to you too," she retorted, jumping on to Remus's bed.

"I brought all of your presents up here," Rose told her, pushing the untouched ones toward her.

"Thanks." But before she started, Lily leaned forward and held her chin high. "Look what Severus gave me."

Despite themselves, the boys huddled around to see it too.

"Oh my God, that's beautiful!" Rose gasped. Lily smiled, thinking of her own reaction. "It must have cost a lot, too."

"Yeah," whispered Mary, touching the delicate necklace. "It's really pretty."

Impulsively, Lily unclasped it. "Try it on, Mary. I think it would look awesome with your hair."

The youngest hesitated, and then fastened it around her neck. Lily was right; Mary's skin was as pale as her own, and her black hair and eyes matched it perfectly, along with the deep blood-red garnets. Sirius didn't even try to conceal his admiration.

"Here – Severus got it for you, not me," Mary muttered, conscious of the stares. She quickly unfastened the choker and handed it back.

"Did Severus like your present?" Rose asked as the boys returned to Sirius's bed.

"Lily nodded, a distant look in her eye. "Yes – I think he really did. He called you sneaky for taking all those pictures."

She laughed. "I suppose I was."

"What'd you get him?" asked Peter curiously.

"Like you really care," she shot at him as she gathered her gifts to select one to open.

"Open mine first," Sirius said quickly.

Lily hesitated. "Will it explode?"

"No. It's actually quite safe for once," he assured her, though there was still a mischievous look in his eye.

She pulled off the paper covered with racing Bludgers and Snitches to reveal two books: _Gryffindor Pride_ and _What's Wrong with Slytherin_, both by Godric Gryffindor's granddaughter, Georgina Potter. "I hate you, Sirius!" she exclaimed, but was unable to hold back the laughter.

"Merry Christmas to you too," he mimicked.

The next day the twins turned sixteen; January 5th Mary reached her fifteenth birthday. More weeks passed, and their lives settled down as much as they could. The school came to accept Lily and Severus as a couple, though it still mystified them. She managed to pry it out of him that his birthday was March 16th; so on his sixteenth birthday she presented him with a set of rare Potions ingredients, such as dried eyes of basilisks (harmless unless submerged in a special potion), scales from a Swedish Short-Snout, and even a bundle of hairs from a Demiguise. He was surprised she was able to get them; Lily smiled and merely said she wasn't top of their year for nothing. Actually she had gotten them from her friends – they had a little extra from a potion they made for their Animagi work.


	13. Part Four of Book Six

**_Part Four_**

Early April, during Easter break: the couple were out on the lawn, talking idly.  They were relatively alone; every now and then another student would pass them, staring surreptiously in wonder that the opposites were still together.  Lily and Severus had learned to ignore this.

They fell silent as they observed the front doors open and three sixteen-year-old boys hurry out.  The trio paused, appearing to be searching for someone, and then they rushed toward the pair.

Severus scowled slightly.  "I wonder what they want." Lily shrugged carelessly.

James, David, and Sirius breathlessly approached her, grinning excitedly.  They actually ignored the Slytherin beside her; she figured it had to be pretty big news.

"Lily, come here, we have something it show you," Sirius implored, grabbing her hand and practically hauling her off the ground.

"What is it?" she asked suspiciously.

"You'll see," James urged.

_He actually spoke to me; it must be fairly important,_ she reflected as they pulled her back up to the castle and up to their Tower.  There were only two second-years in the common room that as the girl prefect was towed up the boys' staircase.

Rose, Mary, Remus, and Peter were already there, looking just as excited.  David pushed Lily toward her sisters as Sirius locked the door.

"What's going on?" she questioned Rose, who grinned.

"They'll show you – watch."

She turned to see Peter join James, David, and Sirius; there was a short pause, in the blink of an eye, they transfigured.  In the place of Lily's friends of nearly six years were a large black dog, a small rat at the dog's huge feet, and two tall stags.

In an instant, Lily felt like the past three years had never happened; they were twelve again, eight best friends, nothing even resembling something to come between them within the horizon.

"Oh my God...you – you actually did it...you really did...I can't believe it…." For some imbecilic reason, tears started to slide down her cheeks.

"Neither could I," Remus said from behind her.  "They did this for me..." His eyes were nearly as bright as hers, but he managed a laugh.  "The full moon's tomorrow, too.  Perfect timing, huh?"

Lily barely heard him.  "This, this is incredible." She kneeled in front of Sirius.  "You did it, Sirius, you're an Animagi!  You can turn into this mammoth, colossal dog the size of a grizzly bear anytime you want now-" He tried to lick her face, knocking her backwards.  "Ahhh!  Sirius, get off me!" She turned to the rat and held out her hands; Peter scampered into them.  "Peter – you're a rat," she said, torn between delight and amusement.  "You did it though, who says you aren't good at Transfiguration?"

"He had to pick something small to reach the knot on the Whomping Willow," Remus explained.

She nodded and lowered him back down, then stood up to the stags.  "You two are still taller than me," she said, feigning resentment.  "The same animal for twins, huh?" One of them nodded his head, his antlers dipping up and down.  She slowly reached up and touched the tip of them.  "Prongs," she whispered softly, then stepped back.  "Let me try to figure out who is who.  No, don't either of you dare turn back, I want to figure it out myself." The stags were as identical as the boys, but Lily wasn't as used to them.  "Well, fine then; move, do something as a hint." They looked at each other, and then the one on the left moved across the room and laid his head on Rose's shoulder.  Lily laughed.  "That's too big of a hint.  You're David and you're James."

Mary put her hand on David's back.  "So, can we ride you?" He stared at her, and then lowered his antlers as though to spear her through.  She took her hand off quickly.

Digging through her purse, Rose removed her camera and managed to snap a picture of the five Animagi.  The dog barked in protest, then turned back to himself.  "Are you crazy?" he cried.  "What if someone sees that?"

She waved her hand dismissively.  "Relax, Sirius.  I develop the pictures myself, and if someone does find it, the five of you will be punished for bringing animals in your dorm, that's all."

He sighed as James and David reverted to their natural forms.  Not wanting to be left out, Peter also reversed to himself.  James commented, "The only bad side is that we can't talk."

"I'm sure you'll find some way to communicate," Lily said.  Grinning, she turned to her sister.  "Rose, can you believe it?  The boys are finally Animagi!  At last they've officially done something illegal!"

As they all laughed, Sirius asked with a slight frown, "Is that what you always refer to us as?  'The boys'?"

Mary shrugged.  "Well, what else can we call you?"

"How about, 'the men'?" David suggested.

The sisters stared at him, looked at each other, and burst out laughing.  "The men" looked deeply offended.

"Get off it, we're sixteen now, not eleven!" James protested.

"My dear 'men'," -Lily used her fingers as quotation marks- "by the way you act, you fit any category except 'men'."

"Well," said Sirius quickly," if we fit any other category, why don't you call us the-" He looked around at his friends for help.

"Invaders," offered James.

"Raiders," shrugged Peter.

"Infringers," suggested David.

"Marauders," recommended Remus.

"Ha!  That's it!" shouted Sirius.  "Marauders!" He abruptly stopped looking so exultant, and turned back to Remus.  "What's a marauder?"

"Basically an invader, raider, and infringer," laughed Rose.

"The Vikings were marauders," Lily explained.

"Well, we're not exactly Vikings, but I like the word," David decided.

"Me too," his brother agreed.  Remus and Peter nodded their assent.

"So, m'ladies," Sirius said, sweeping a bow to the amused sisters, "when you are writing a letter to your parents, we will be much obliged if you would be good enough to relate to us as the Marauders.  And you can just call me Padfoot."

"Padfoot?" repeated Mary.

"Why not?  We can all take personal nicknames too."

"Lily's already christened me," James said quietly, smiling at her.  "Prongs."

_He must be in a _really_ good mood._

David whirled around as soon as he heard the announcement.  "That's not fair!  I was about to pick Prongs!  Why does James always get everything?" he whined.

"Because I'm the oldest, that's why."

_"Six seconds!" _he shouted.  "Six!  I was supposed to be first anyway, I was heading toward the light when James shoved me back!"

Everyone was laughing hysterically at this point, but Sirius managed to catch his breath to ask seriously, "And you remember all this, David?"

"Yes!  In explicit detail."

Remus ran a hand through his dark brown hair.  "Actually, it depends on who was conceived first."

"Let's not go there," Lily said quickly.

James squeezed his eyes shut and make swimming motions with his hands in front of his face.  "It was dark – I was swimming in a river-"

"But still, I wanted to be Prongs," David grumbled.

Lily took pity on him.  "Look, David, there's a word a whole lot like Prongs you could use: Pronghorn."

"Pronghorn?"

"Pronghorn."

"Okay, I guess so."

"Aren't you grateful."

Remus digressed swiftly.  "So you're Padfoot, you're Prongs, and you're Pronghorn.  What am I?"

"Oh that's easy enough.  You're Moony," David said dismissively.

Now Peter spoke up.  "I can't think of anything – what can I be?" His four friends studied him.

"Peter, turn back to a rat," James said finally.  "That might help." He obeyed.  Lily lifted him into the air by his tail so everyone could see him properly, but Peter didn't seem to like that at all by the way he started squeaking and squirming.

Mary laughed.  "His tail looks like a worm."

"Wormtail!" Sirius exclaimed.  Lily dropped him, and he transformed back.

"Did I hear you right?  Wormtail?" he said skeptically.  

"Either that or Peter the Rock."

"I'm Wormtail!"

"And you can tell your boyfriend we have an official title now," the black-haired boy told Lily.  "Tell us what he says to that."

"I will," she replied, smiling to herself.  She could already hear him pronouncing with distaste "immature Gryffindors".  

"Another thing, Lily," David said, abruptly serious, "You know not to tell him we're Animagi, right?" 

"Of course!" she exclaimed, looking genuinely shocked.  "I wouldn't do that." 

"Good," Sirius muttered, "because he'd jump at a chance to get us expelled." 

"I don't do that," Lily repeated, looking hurt that they had ever doubted her allegiance.  "I don't tell him your secrets, and I don't tell you his." 

The last few words caught their attention faster than McGonagall ever did.  "He has secrets?  What secrets?" Peter asked quickly.

"Well, I could tell you, but then you'd have to excuse me while I inform Severus of your little accomplishment-"

"NO!" they shouted together.

The girls never left their dorm that night.  James and Peter stole down to the kitchens for a dinner for eight, and they spent the night talking and reminiscing.  The boys pulled off their mattresses onto the floor, and James conjured three more, so they arranged them in a comfortable circle.

Lily was still in a good mood the next day when she met Severus.

"Why are you so happy?" he queried.

"Oh, no reason.  Just the boys finally finished something they have been working on for a long time yesterday, and I'm glad.'

"What have they been working on?"

"Nothing.  It doesn't concern you, don't worry about it."

"Lily, the chances are it will eventually end up concerning me."

"With this, no.  By the way, the boys have a new name."

She succeeded in temporarily distracting him.  "A new name?  Why?"

"I'm not sure why.  But now they call themselves the Marauders.  Sirius is Padfoot, James is Prongs, David is Pronghorn, Remus is Moony, and Peter is Wormtail.  Just so you know."

Severus shook his head in disbelieving contempt.  "Can they get any more juvenile?  I suppose they're going to build a house tree in the Forbidden Forest next?"

She fought back a laugh.  "You mean tree house."

"Whatever.  So do their names have anything to do with what they were working on?"

"Severus!  It's like I told them, I don't tell you their secrets, and I don't tell them yours."

His reaction was amusingly similar to theirs.  "I have secrets?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, Severus dear, most of those Dark Arts spells you practice so regularly are not allowed in Hogwarts."

He considered this.  "Oh.  I suppose you're right.  But – it's illegal, isn't it, what they're doing?  What is it?"

"No!  I can't tell you, quit asking!  Please!"

She could be quite stubborn sometimes.  His eyes narrowed as he realized he wasn't getting anything out of her, and he muttered, more to himself than her, "Fine; I'll just have to figure it out myself."

The redhead threw him a sharp and worried glance.  He could be just as determined as her – this could be dangerous.  She better warn the boys of his intentions – better him in trouble than dead.

As she helplessly told Severus, Sirius had, "through trickery and deceit," gotten her to promise she would spend her birthday with her sisters and the Marauders in Hogsmeade.  He was disappointed, but relented.

On May 2nd, the morning of Lily's sixteenth birthday, the eight Gryffindors were walking leisurely out of Hogwarts for Hogsmeade.  They hadn't quite reached the front doors when Severus appeared from behind a tapestry and guardedly approached them.  He held a square but relatively flat box.

"The agreement was that _you _keep out of sight today, Snape," Sirius said testily, stepping in front of the group.  Before the Slytherin could retaliate, Lily circled around him and snapped,            

"God, Sirius, can't you be civil _once?  _It's my birthday, please; give him a minute or two." Her eyes were apologetic as she moved in front of him.  Severus shot his enemy of seven years a death glare, than turned to her.

"Happy birthday," he said quietly, handing her the green box.  "Open it whenever you want – I'll see you tomorrow." Severus kissed her softly, sensing the five boys on his left flinch.

"Thanks, Severus.  Can I open it now, in front of them?" She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw his eyes flicker to David.

"If you want to." With a last glance toward her and a nod to her sisters, he started back down the corridor.

Just like Christmas, the boys couldn't help gathering around Lily as she opened the box.  But their curiosity was only protracted as she quickly lifted it up so only she, Rose, and Mary could see; then she gave a little gasp, pushed it in Rose's hands, and dashed after the giver for a prolonged thank-you.  Only then could the Marauders see it properly.

It was a drawing, and a good one – even they had to admit it.  It was divided in two parts, with a wall separating them.  On the left was what Lily recognized as the bay window in their room.  She and Severus were sitting in it opposite of each other, her back against the dividing wall.  On the other side were Rose and David, symmetrical to the other couple with Rose's back against the wall like Lily's and David sitting across from her.  The window showed it was night outside, no moon, only hundreds of stars dotted across the sky.  The skyline of the Forbidden Forest was also visible.  David couldn't stop staring at the image of him.

"What are you waiting for, David?" asked Remus with a slight smile.

"For me to fall out the window, or my head to burst into flames, or-"

"It won't," Lily said, grinning as she walked back towards them.  Severus had vanished – _finally,_ thought the boys.   "He told me he made another copy where it did, but this one won't." She took the picture gently back from Rose.  "It's amazing, isn't it?  I knew he could draw, but not like this..." Running her hands over the surface, she suddenly looked up at them.  "Not that I really expect you to agree.  I'm going to put it up; I'll be back in a minute." But instead of going back to her dorm, she detoured up to their room on the sixth floor.  She carefully set it on the bureau, promising herself she would frame it later.

In Hogsmeade, they actually spent Lily's birthday much like they had the previous one: buying her everything she wanted and generally roaming the village.  Part way through the afternoon, a special delivery eagle owl swooped down to her.  It bore birthday greetings from Anetka and Nicki, and their gift – a gold necklace with sixteen diamonds, and matching earrings and a bracelet.  Lily was staggered.

"I cannot believe they gave this to me," she said, staring at the necklace as they sat in a circle beside the Shrieking Shack.  _"I cannot believe it."_

"Can you imagine what this must have cost?" Peter asked in amazement, examining the bracelet in his pudgy hands.

"Oh, he didn't buy it for me," she quickly explained.  "He bought it a long time ago, for Anetka as a sort of wedding present.  But all four of us knew it was going to be passed down to one of us someday." A new thought occurred to her.  "Oh, Petunia's going to be furious.  She was so sure that she, as eldest, would get it."

"Or maybe the biological daughter should," Sirius added, nudging Mary, but she only rolled her eyes.

"Please, I'm not going to wear that.  I mean, it's beautiful, of course, but I just – couldn't."

"You wouldn't wear it any more than you would a dress, right?" Remus asked.

"Yeah."

Lily glanced nervously at Rose, who was studying the earrings.  "Rose?  You aren't upset, are you?"

She glanced up at her in genuine surprise.  "Why should I be upset?  It might as well be given to both of us – you're going to lend it to me anytime I ask."

She laughed.  "True.  But, oh my God, I'm only sixteen – what are they going to do when I'm eighteen?"

"Probably arrange for you to be crowned queen of the world." Sirius grinned.

Making a face, she replied, "I don't want it in the shape it's in now."

"Good point." David nodded.

"You know that they're calling the guy behind all the disappearances and attacks Voldemort now?" James said abruptly.

"Yeah," Sirius muttered.

"People are really starting to get scared of him," Mary commented.

"Which is probably what he wants."

"Really."

"Okay, enough about that," Lily said suddenly.  "It's my birthday; I don't want to talk about that."

"I'll change the subject," Sirius said cheerfully.  "Mary, will you go out with me?"

"No."

"Please?  It's Lily's birthday, do it for her!"

The youngest of the group glanced nervously at her sister, but the latter was frowning.

"Sirius, don't do that.  I want Mary to do what she wants, leave me out of it."

James stood up.  "Knock it off, Padfoot.  Come on; let's go over to that mountain near the end of the street."

It was the same place Lily, Rose, and Remus had gone last year.  They quickly pointed out the large cave halfway up, and so they all climbed up toward it, except for Peter, who made them stand in front of him so he transfigured to a rat so David could carry him up in his pocket.  Once inside the rat became himself again, and the group lounged at the entrance, viewing the many lights of the village beneath them, except for James and Sirius, who were restlessly exploring the rest of the mountain.  Presently a shout came from James.

"Oi, Sirius!  All of you, come check out this!"

The Gryffindor fifth years made their way out to find the elder twin.  He was standing in front of a narrow gap between two large boulders.  Sirius came panting up from behind as James pointed at the fissure.  "I think there's a pretty big cave back there."

"Cool," Mary said, scrambling up in front of him to go in first.

"Careful, Mary, there could be an escaped murderer living in there."

She gave Sirius a look, but drew her wand, as did everyone else, as she slipped into the gap.  _"Lumos_.  No murderers, Sirius.  There's a few rats in the back that Peter can make friends with" ("Hey!") "but that's about it."

"Are there any rocks?  Maybe Peter can converse with them too." he said brightly as he followed her in – he had never really given up "Peter the Rock".

"That isn't funny," he said sulkily, trailing James, David, and Remus inside.  Lily and Rose were last.

"This is pretty big," Remus said in surprise.  All of them had lit their wands now, peering around the grotto.

Mary picked up three rocks and brought them to James.  "Turn them into candles, please." 

"Can't you do it yourself?" Lily asked as he complied.

"Probably, but he's better at it." She blew on the wick of each, lighting them, then levitated them high so they could see better.

Rose shot her older sister a mischievous grin.  "David and I claim it, Lily."

"I don't mind.  Severus and I have our own place."

Sirius winced.  "Bad mental image..._corrupt_ mental image..."

"I didn't even say anything!" she protested.  

"I beg to differ."

"Oh, get off it, Severus – I mean-" Lily clamped a hand over her mouth in horror, but the damage was done.  As soon as the name escaped her lips, there was an instant uproar.  Peter gaped at her in wordless shock; James exclaimed, _"Lily!"_ as his brother yelped, _"What_ did you call him?"; Remus looked on in amused astonishment; Sirius himself leaped up from his relaxed position on the stone floor, jaw dropped, stared at the mortified sixteen-year-old, shook his head, appalled, turned around and took a few steps, only to whirl back around to stare once more.

Lily finally recovered her voice.  _"Sirius_, I meant _Sirius_ – I'm so sorry-" She moved forward to touch him, but he pulled back.

_"How_ could you do that?  How could you mistake me for – _him?"_

"You look a lot alike!  You both have black hair!" But that was evidently the wrong thing to say; Sirius now looked rather suicidal.  "I mean, your names are a lot alike, the first and last three letters are the same."

"That's not an excuse.  That's unforgivable, Lil."

"I'm sorry!" she wailed.  "Look, Severus is going to be just as insulted as you are when he hears.  Please don't be mad, Sirius.  Please?" She gave him her most pleading look.  He resisted in vain for a few seconds, and then gave in.

"Oh, you know I can't stay mad at you.  But you better not do it again." he warned, hugging her.

James peered outside.  "It's getting pretty late, guys; let's head back to the school."

The eight scrambled down the mountain and through the lanes, the candles hovering over them until they reached the front doors.  They had to separate in the common room – it wasn't a holiday.

Severus had never quite forgotten Lily's maniacal studying passion and its results of last year, and as O.W.L.s drew closer he became very watchful for any signs of a relapse.

One morning he entered the Great Hall and went straight to the Gryffindor table.  He wasn't much surprised to see that instead of a plate of food before Lily, like everyone else had, she had a book and a few pages of notes she was leaning over, and not paying an iota of attention to anything else, including her friends on every side that were contemplating her warily.  Sighing, he walked up behind her, ignoring the scowls of five certain boys.

"Lily?"

She didn't move.  He put his hand on her shoulder and repeated her name.  This time she jumped slightly and looked up at him – the polite impatience was easily discernable in her expression.

"You're not eating again, are you?"

She frowned.  "Don't be ridiculous, of course I am."

"Really." Severus turned to the fifteen-year-old on her right.  "Rose, did she eat?"

"A bit..."

Lily winced.

"A bit," he echoed, his eyes narrowing.  "Lily – last year, I didn't have any control over what you did to yourself until it was almost too late.  But this year, it's different.  Now I have some say-"

"-Which is really depressing, if you think about it," Sirius cut in.  "But really, Lil, you should eat.  It has consequences, remember?  Your parents freaked out, you passed out, and, worst of all, it chronically affected your brain into actually thinking you like a Slytherin..."

 Snape gave him a look that clearly said, 'Pain and you are about to meet – I'll make the introductions' before continuing, "I don't care if your 'friends' won't stop you from starving yourself, _I_ won't let you." He drew his wand, causing the Marauders to quickly do the same, but he muttered, _"Dwinan,"_ and Lily's book and papers disintegrated.  She whirled back around to him to see it reintegrate in his hand.

"Severus!  Give it back!" she cried, jumping up.  He backed up, holding the textbook out of reach.

"Come get it if you want it.  Rose, can you get a plate of biscuits for me?" The latter obeyed and followed them as Severus led Lily out of the Great Hall to a stone bench.  They both sat down, Lily grudgingly.

"Severus, this isn't funny.  I need to study."

Taking the plate, he thanked Rose and set it between them as the younger redhead returned to her friends and breakfast.  "Lily, this is what we're going to do.  For every bite you take, I'll ask you a question off your review sheet, or I'll read to you aloud if you keep eating." She scowled, but grabbed a biscuit.

     "Go ahead – I left off halfway down the second page."

      It worked well enough – she had to answer while she was chewing.  Finally the bell rang, and she rushed off to Transfiguration.  But the Marauders stopped Snape before he could leave.

"So," David said coldly, "you had to _bribe_ her to cooperate." It wasn't a question.

"True," he admitted calmly.  "But I got her to eat, which is more than any of you have been able to accomplish." Smirking, he walked off.

Severus watched her every meal until the exams arrived, making sure she ate everything.  Her parents also sent numerous letters to her sisters, wanting reassurances that she was really taking care of herself.  And this time, under her boyfriend's watchful eye, she did.

Finally the day of the exams she put all her concentration into them.  When they were done she was completely spent, and barely had enough energy to collapse beside Severus on the lawn.

     June 1st they were on the train riding home.  Lily had given the boys and her sisters her prefect compartment, and she and Severus were in a compartment by themselves.  Lily was nervously fidgeting with her hands, sitting across from him.

     "All right," she said, taking a deep breath.  "Okay.  We – we can do this, I know.  It's all about impressions."

     "So, tell me about your parents again," Severus queried.  "Why would they have a problem with me?"

     "Well – Anetka never attended Hogwarts, she wouldn't know about Houses at all, if it weren't for my father.  Nicki was a Gryffindor." 

     "A _typical_ Gryffindor," he said darkly, "believing that Slytherins are evil and are all going to end up as outlaws someday."

     "Severus...." Lily said unhappily.

     "They do," he said resentfully.  "Don't try to deny it."

_     "I_ don't."

     "You're different.  But go on with what you were saying..."

     She sighed.  "Well, Anetka will believe anything Nicki says about Hogwarts – don't give me that look – but if you act right and are cordial enough, she could change her mind."

     He shook his head.  "Remind me again what you're so scared of – what's the worst they can do?"

     "Well, Nicki can't make us break up, since he won't be around at Hogwarts.  But he can keep you from seeing me over the summer."

     Frowning, he took her hand and pulled it to his laps.  "That won't be good."

     "I know," she sighed.  "I don't know if I could stand it, not being able to see you for two full months."

     "If it comes to that, we can secretly arrange to meet in Diagon Alley."

     "True – but it's not going to come to that.  We're going to convince my parents that you're-" she stopped helplessly, staring at him as she tried to figure out what she was going to say.

     Not able to keep from grinning, he leaned back and held out his hands.  "What?  Not a Slytherin?  Not an evil Dark Arts know-it-all?"

"No – I mean-" Lily fell to her knees in front of him.  "Severus, I like you the way you are!" With a moan she leaned her head against his knees.  "This is so hard."

     Sighing, he pulled her up beside him.  "Lily, we're going to show your parents who I am, yes – but that I'm _sincere."_ He looked right into her eyes.  "I mean what I say to you, Lily."

      "I know," she whispered, staring back.

     He pushed her hair back, his fingers lingering at her shoulder.  "Stop worrying.  Have faith in me for once."

     She finally smiled.

     "It'll work out.  I promise," he said softly.  

      "Thanks.  But remember, be careful what you say.  I love you for who you are, you know that, but Nicki doesn't have to know you know so much about the Dark Arts." 

     "As long as you don't mention you sold me your soul." 

     They sat in silence for the rest of the trip.  As it began to slow down at last, Lily squeezed her eyes tightly shut.  Severus nudged her, and she reluctantly stepped out of the compartment and into the crowded aisle with him.  

     She found the seven others outside with their trunks, waiting before the barrier to be signaled to cross.  More anxious than ever, she let the Marauders and Rose and Mary go before her and Severus.  Finally, she took a deep breath and pushed the cart with him through the wall.  

     There were dozens of people milling around outside in the Muggle train station.  For a moment they stood still side by side, both searching for the same people; then Lily caught sight of her sisters embracing Anetka and Nicki as Petunia stood by idly.  Rushing forward to greet them affectionately, she left Severus to obtain his first impression of his parents.  

     The father was a tallish man, though only an inch or so over his eldest daughter.  He had dirty blond wavy hair, and bright blue eyes that foretold they could be very determined sometimes.  He was wearing, as was his wife, Muggle clothes – khaki trousers and a blue shirt.  The woman beside him was startlingly different.  She was much shorter, about Mary's height, and dark brown air, very wavy, as though it was braided a lot, hung past her shoulders.  Her eyes were the same color, perhaps a shade lighter, and they had a sincere, cordial look to them, so much that he couldn't imagine them flashing in anger – not unlike Lily's, albeit a different color, Severus noted.  She was wearing a soft brown top and matching trousers.  Around her neck hung a silver necklace with a fairy holding a misty green ball.  He could see the likenesses between her and Mary.  Then the girl on the left of Nicki Evans – for a moment, Severus thought she belonged to another family; she was so contrary from the couple and her three sisters.  Her indifference to the ecstatic greetings beside her contributed to that impression.  But it was the eyes that made him sure that this was Lily's, Rose's, and Mary's eldest sister.  They were the exact same color and shape as Lily's and Rose's – the same gleaming, brilliant green.  It was really the only exterior thing tying them together as definite sisters.  She had rigidly straight blond hair falling down her back, about the same length as Lily's.  Her clothes were as Muggle as her parents' – jeans and a yellow tank top.  A sort of pity arose in him for her.  She was just like Filch – surrounded by – she even had to call them her family – people who had abilities and powers she never had, nor never would possess.  

     He had summed all this up in a few seconds as Lily hugged her mother, then her father.  Severus noticed that as he embraced her, he scanned over her shoulder for the boy who called himself his daughter's boyfriend; but he missed him.  As Lily broke away, she glanced back at him, her face clearly saying, "You can come up now."

     He strode forward determinedly, noting as he did the Marauders gathering at the side to watch after their hurried reunion with their families.  Of course – they'd been waiting all year for this.  Rose and Mary stood anxiously beside their mother.  But Severus managed to take some slight amusement in the change of expression of Anetka, Nicki, and Petunia Evans' first face-to-face look at him.  Lily, moving beside him, made the introductions nervously.

     "Nicki, Anetka, Petunia, this is my boyfriend, Severus Snape.  Severus, these are my parents, Anetka and Nicki Evans, and my oldest sister – Petunia."

     Nicki was the first to hold out his hand to him.  "So you're Severus.  It's good to finally meet you."

     Severus shook it, replying civilly, "Good to meet you too, sir." Anetka smiled hopefully and shook his hand as well.

     Petunia's eyes flickered calculatingly over him, from his jaw-length black hair to his dragon-hide boots he hadn't bothered switching to Muggle shoes, and his black shirt and trousers in between.  "_This_ is the boyfriend?"

     "Yes," Lily confirmed, a bit defiantly.

     Petunia laughed, casting her father an amused glance.  "Oh, this is just perfect.  _Perfect."_ Lily frowned as Nicki spoke again.

     "Severus, I was wondering if you had anywhere you really needed to go right away – you see, I was hoping you could call over for a little while so we could talk and perhaps get better acquainted."

     He had anticipated this; glancing at Lily, he saw he should better accept.  "I can go home whenever I wish, Mr. Evans.  It isn't a problem."

     Nicki looked pleased.  He exchanged a silent communication with Anetka, and addressed Severus once more: "Good.  Do you have a lift?"

     After a quick scan of the many cars waiting by the side of the road, he asserted, "Yes, it's here.  Shall I follow you, then?"

     He was about to respond, when Black chose that moment to step forward, calling out brightly, "Hey, Nicki!"

     Nicki's polite smile turned genuine, and Severus knew he was doomed.  "Hello, Sirius.  Good to see you again – all of you.  Been up to your usual trouble?"

     "As always.  Nicki, could we please come over too?"

     From behind, Mrs. Black took a double take.  _"What?"_

     Nicki chuckled.  "Sorry, boys.  But this isn't open to audiences.  Besides, you ought to spend some time with your families.  Anyway, you'll be visiting a lot over the summer."

     Disappointed, Sirius dropped back, and as the Marauders turned to leave, Nicki added mischievously, "Say goodbye to David, Rose." Blushing, she obeyed and hurried over for a last kiss and a whispered promise of when she could next see him.  Turning back to Severus, he added, "So you can follow?"

     He nodded, gave Lily one last look, and turned to take his trunk and owl off the cart as the Evans family moved to their own car.

     Severus didn't drive himself, though at sixteen he was able to and was intending to buy a car within the month.  But his top house-elf, Zephy, magically drove the car to and from Platform 9 3/4 every year since he had started school.  After pushing first his luggage in and then climbing in himself, he leaned forward and directed, "We're not going straight home, Zephy.  See that minivan three cars up – with the brunette and blonde going into the back?  Follow it to their house."

     "Yes, Master," the elf answered, clapping his hands together for the car to start.  He didn't need to ask why; he knew that after a moment of two he would volunteer the information.  And he did.

     "That's Lily's family," Snape said abruptly.  Zephy knew who Lily was; not only had his master mentioned her last summer, but he had written him a letter earlier in the year announcing his success in claiming her as his own.  Zephy was rare among house-elves for his ability to read and write.  "I'm being taken to her house so her father can interrogate me on my character and what my future will most likely be."

     "Master will convince him, Zephy is sure," he said confidently.

     In the minivan ahead, Lily was in the very back, turning around every few minutes to see if Severus was keeping up, Petunia, for the first time, was actually showing some interest in what had happened in her sister's life in the past nine months, although her curiosity did not extend past the subject of what Lily found so desirable in her boyfriend.

     Finally Nicki turned into the suburb division, and after a few more minutes, he pulled into the suburb division, and after a few minutes, he pulled into the driveway of a large two-story house, Severus' black car stopping behind him a few seconds later.  Lily hurried out to meet Severus as he stepped out of his own car.  Nicki beckoned them toward the door, unlocked it, and led them inside.  

     Directly inside was a spacious living room, with a glass coffee table on the left, chairs at both ends, and a long off – white sofa on one side.  A few feet behind the couch was a fireplace.  On the right was a large china cabinet, though it held more pictures than china.  Severus noted one where it was apparently Anetka and Nicki's wedding day, and another with the same woman pregnant.  Then the next one showed her still pregnant, wearing the same outfit even, but holding three other very small girls.  Severus wondered if they had arranged it this way on purpose to perplex innocent visitors.  Beyond the living room he could see a kitchen on the left, through a bar counter.  Across from it was a wide opening that seemed to lead to another parlor.  Between that door and the fireplace was an enclosed staircase, like a hallway almost.

     Nicki indicated the chair at the closer end of the table for Severus, and his daughters quickly lined up on the sofa, Lily closest to him.  Her parents sat opposite him, and the inquisition began.

     "So, Severus, how old are you?"

     "I turned sixteen on March sixteenth – sir."

     "And do you know how old Lily is?"

     "She turned sixteen on May second."

     "Good, good.  How long have you been dating – exactly?"

     "It will be nine months on the nineteenth."

     "Hmm." Nicki eyed him.  Severus steadily held his gaze.  Anetka broke the silence.

     "Severus, Lily once explained in a letter what happened to your family, but I'm afraid I forgot.  Could you please remind us?"

     He decided he liked her better – she seemed much more earnest.  "Well, my mother, Arejia Snape, died shortly after my birth and my father – left.  I was moved to my uncle's house, who died when I was 14."

     "Oh," said Anetka sadly.  He glanced at Lily and read in her eyes: _Great, now she wants to adopt you.  _But her mother wasn't finished.  "And you had no one else to come take care of you?"

     "No – ma'am.  I didn't really need anyone to.  My, er, house-elves manage my finances, and by this time next year I'll be the legal sole heir."

     "Really," muttered Nicki.  "Severus, I understand you to be in Slytherin House?"

      "Yes," he affirmed, a bit antagonistically.  Lily bit her lip.

     "Now, why do you think the Sorting Hat put you there?"

     "The majority of the books in the library in my house are about the Dark Arts – apparently most of my family were Slytherins.  But those were the books that were used to teach me how to read.  That is probably a reason."

     "I see." Nicki studied him again.  "On another subject, frankly, how far are you planning to go with Lily.  Physically speaking."

     Severus had been expecting this sort of question, and he had had time to think up a satisfactory answer; out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lily watching him anxiously.  "As far as Lily is ready to go."

     He raised his eyebrows and glanced at his wife, who smiled and said softly, "I like him." But Nicki clarified,

     "So you would never pressure her?"

     "No, of course not," he lied, not daring to look at Lily.  So the first part had been true, she had always set the pace, but that didn't mean he hadn't made a few suggestions.  Several times.

     "Good, good.  Just out of curiosity – I'm wondering because of the mention you made earlier of your, er, library – do you study the Dark Arts?"

     For the first time, Lily spoke.  "Nicki, okay, so yeah, he knows about the Dark Arts.  He's studied them a bit, but that doesn't mean he practices them.  There's a huge difference.  It's like us, you put us in a Muggle school when we were little, but that doesn't mean Rose, Mary, and I are acting like Muggles.  And besides, I understand why he does.  They're really interesting, he's told me a little – I mean-" She blushed, flustered.  By now everyone was staring at her, incredulous.  Finally, Severus said,

     "And you told me to be careful what I said."

     "I'm – I'm going to get something to drink," she muttered, sending Rose a meaningful look.  Jumping up, she hurried to the kitchen, her sister following.

     "Oh my God." Lily let out a half-sigh, half-laugh.  "I can't believe I just did that.  What a mess." She turned on the water to the sink with a wave, splashing her face.  Rose smiled sympathetically.  "Oh, Rose." the elder stopped reflectively before the sink, the water flow diminishing to a trickle.  "A year ago, we didn't have to worry about this.  Do you remember what we were doing last year about this time?"

     "You were confessing to me your crush on James." The words were out before she even considered them.  Lily spun around, more puzzlement in her eyes than anything else, as though wondering why Rose would bring that up.  She smiled weakly, lifting herself onto the counter besides Lily.  "I've been wondering what happened to him."

     "Oh." She considered this.  "I don't know – you know what happened when Severus first asked me out.  Since then..." She blew out her breath.  "Well – he's been ignoring me.  Ever since the first morning when I announced Severus and I were going out, he wouldn't talk to me.  He can't even look me in the eye.  You know for Christmas he only gave me that journal set?  It hurts, I'll admit it.  I didn't think my relationship would matter so much to him." Biting her lip, she added sadly, "I guess he hates _Snape_ more than he cares for me."

     "Oh, Lily, I don't think he does."

     "Really?" she shot back; it was more of a challenge than a doubt.  "Come on, Rose, if he didn't, then why won't he talk to me?"

     She didn't have an answer, despite how she was racking her mind for one.

     Lily sighed again.  "It's okay; it was just a crush, anyway." She repeated it more for herself than Rose.  "Come on, let's go back up and see if we can salvage the situation."

     They re-entered the living room; everyone looked up at them.  Lily took a deep breath, preparing to regain what ground she had just lost.  "Nicki, I know Severus may not be the perfect boyfriend, but he does have his good points.  If he didn't, why would I date him?  We aren't naive; we knew the odds when we started.  A Gryffindor and a Slytherin isn't considered – _natural_ at Hogwarts, but we didn't care.  My friends" -she paused, thinking of James- "– the boys absolutely loathe it, but I didn't back down.  Nicki, I knew you might not like it.  But I believed that you would eventually understand, as would you, Anetka.  Trust me on this, all right?  If Severus really wasn't that great, why would I put up with all this?"

     She waited apprehensively for their response.  Meeting Severus's eyes, he gave her a slight nod, communicating that she had redeemed herself.

     Nicki finally smiled and stood.  "Either you're sincere, or you deserve worldwide acclaim as a hypnotist.  You being my daughter, I say you're sincere." She laughed, relieved.  "Well, I can't say I understand it" - with another surreptious glance at the long-haired Slytherin sitting in his chair- "but I trust you, Lily.  You must have a reason." It was obvious that this reason escaped him altogether, but he was trying to show he had faith.

     She hugged him.  "Thanks, Nicki."

     A few minutes later, the couple walked outside for a final goodbye.  Nicki had still dodged any promises of when he could next visit, but she promised to write loads of letters.  They stood by the door of his car, stalling.

     At last he quietly said, "Goodbye." She started to reply, but he stopped her with a kiss.  It lengthened, both of them very aware of Nicki observing in the window, though not watching him.  Severus's fingers glided in their usual possessive manner onto her shoulder, then, after a moment or two, slid beneath the thin straps of her top.

     "Severus..." she managed to pause to mutter, fearing of something rupturing internally in her father.

     "Sorry, sorry," he mumbled, lifting his fingers up.

     At long last, they stopped, though they hardly moved apart at all.  Lily's cheeks were as flushed as ever, and her green eyes glittered brightly.  He loved that particular effect he nearly always had on her.  "Do you think that will last you until next time?" 

     She nodded wordlessly.  He paused an instant longer, continuing to lock eyes with her and reluctant to tear away.

     "I love you." 

     He slipped into the back seat and the car pulled out of the driveway into the street.  Lily stared after the car until it finally turned at the end of the street and disappeared.  Her mind whirling, she slowly went back inside.  He had told her he loved her before a few times when they were alone, but never with such utter conviction.  _He really meant it – he really did,_ she thought dazedly.

     Up in her room she collapsed on her bed, smiling detachedly at the ceiling.  Mary's black cat, Dusk, jumped up beside her.  Turning to it, Lily told the cat dreamily, "I love life."


	14. Part Five of Book Six

**_Part Five_**

_Dear Severus, June 20 _

_Just writing to tell you what's going on and how much. I miss you. I know it's only been nineteen days, and we've already written what, a dozen letters? Apollo's getting tired._

_Anetka's giving Petunia and me piano lessons again. She used to before we went to Hogwarts. Neither of us have an ounce of talent, but Anetka is very good, and hope springs eternal. Petunia hates it and is letting the world know. I'm pretending to like it for my mother's sake, but it can be so frustrating sometimes._

_On another topic, I got my O.W.L results! Ten O.W.L.s! As soon as I got the owl and scanned my results, I dashed over to James and David's house. You know how James and I have always competed to be top of our year. He had just gotten his too, and David had to hold me off so James could finish reading his results. Then we compared, and guess what? I beat him! I was so excited. We got the same number of O.W.L.s in nearly every subject, except I got a few less in Transfiguration and a few more in Charms, which would have evened out if I hadn't gotten so many in Potions! Severus, thank you so much for teaching me what you did. I probably wouldn't have been top of our year if you hadn't helped me._

_Anyway, your new car sounds so cool. I can't wait to see it – hopefully Nicki will let you take me out._

_Well, I'm a bit bored now. Nicki's off at work, and Anetka and Mary went out to do something or another. About an hour ago David drove by (they're using their parents car – I think they may get one for themselves soon) and picked up Rose. They invited me to come along, but I declined. They should spend some time alone. Petunia's boyfriend, __Vernon__, disappeared with her early this morning, though he dropped her back off about ten minutes ago – she was complaining of a headache. And now she's in her room. I suppose I should do some of my homework now._

_I miss you! Please write back._

_Love,_

_Lily_

Blowing on the green ink to dry, Lily carefully folded the letter, and then sealed it with the fresh wax dripping from the candle burning on her desk. She used Anetka's seal, the curvy PM. Smiling slightly, Lily carried the letter over to Apollo, who was waiting patiently on the windowsill. The owl was completely black, including his eyes, and was the sort of bird only someone like Severus could manage. But apparently it had orders to submit to her, as it grudgingly held out his leg. Lily swiftly tied the letter on, and watched as the owl took flight into the blue sky. Feeling rather content with life, she sat down on Mary's bed, where Twilight, Midnight, and Dusk, were curled together harmoniously. After a few seconds, she was about to get out her Herbology book, when what sounded like a sob from across the hall caught her attention. Curious, she stood and walked out of her room, where she heard another faint sob coming from behind Petunia's closed door. Now concerned, Lily gently knocked on her sister's door. "Petunia? Are you all right?"

A pause, then a muffled voice. "I'm fine, Lily."

The redhead took the tone and response to be non-threatening, so she cautiously nudged the door ajar and peeked inside. Her sister sat alone on her window seat, her face turned to the window. There was a picture lying on the seat before her. Bolder, Lily advanced toward her. "Are you sure?" she questioned.

For the first time, the blond turned to look at her. Her eyes and nose were red – a trademark sign for any Evans who was crying or about to. For a moment, she said nothing, only gave her younger sister a penetrating stare. Finally she snatched up the picture in front of her and tossed it to her. "What do you think?"

Studying the photo, Lily only became more bewildered. It was a shot of Petunia and Vernon at some end-of-year-dance. They were both smiling happily, Vernon holding both of Petunia's bony hands as they faced the camera. At first, Lily searched for a spot on his suit or her dress – Petunia was such a clean freak, but she doubted even Petunia would be crying about something as small as that.

"I'm sorry, I don't see the problem," Lily said finally, a bit apologetically. "This is a beautiful picture; you look quite pretty in it-"

"No!" The sixteen, nearly seventeen-year-old jumped up, grabbing the picture and holding it higher, up in Lily's face. _"Look_ at it! Stop searching for details, and just _look_ at it, Lily. What's your first reaction? What's the first thought that enters your head?" Her green eyes were now refilling with tears, though her voice did not shake in the slightest. "What about back then – when I first introduced Vernon, what was your initial reaction?"

Overwhelmed by her sister's passion, she could only shake her head, saying, "Petunia, I don't understand-"

"You understand perfectly! If you can understand the differences between you and Severus, you can understand-" Her voice, long overdue, broke. Lily's eyes were wide, staring at her in awful comprehension.

"You – you don't mean-"

"You know I'm not that stupid!" Petunia said angrily, finally lowering the picture and turning away, but continuing to look at it himself. "Just _look_ at him – he's fat, ugly, and stupid – you know, I wouldn't mind his body so much if he could just hold a decent conversation. But no – he can't come up with a single, solitary thing that's half-interesting to talk about." Lily was stunned – her voice held a degree of contempt and disgust that she had never heard before. "I can't stand it – I just can't stand it," she whispered miserably, shaking her head.

At last Lily regained her power of speech. "Petunia – you really hate him?"

Sniffing, she nodded, not taking her eyes off the picture.

"But – why then – why keep going on with it?"

Petunia flung down the photo, whirling on her with all the anger and jealousy that had been building up her entire life, and continuing to advance as Lily kept taking small steps back. "Of _course_ you don't understand that! How could the pretty, popular, top-of-her-year girl who can afford to be picky and choose whatever pleases her most from everyone and everything? _You_ have practically the whole world waiting on you hand and foot, ready to fetch whatever you want and cushion your every fall. You-" -her eyes swept over her from her head to her feet in a mixture of amazement, awe, and raw envy- "you're living in a fairy-tale world, aren't you? With elves and dwarves and giants – you attend the perfect school, learning all sorts of ways to _help_ you have the perfect life – you're going to marry the perfect husband and have the perfect children, living all the while in your fairy tale world. Do you think I don't know you got Anetka's necklace? I saw you take it out of your trunk. Everything just goes perfect for you. Well, guess what, Lily? Not everyone lives in your world. _Some_ of us are Muggles; _we_ have to live in _reality_. Wake up! I'm not as pretty as you are. I don't have the luxury of being able to pick and choose. How many guys asked you out before Severus? Guess how many have asked _me _out? _Vernon__ is the only one."_ She finally stopped, her zeal ebbing away as she and Lily stared at each other. Finally Petunia said softly, "You don't even realize all you have, do you? It's beyond me what you like so much in Severus, but obviously you are happy together" -she blinked to keep the tears back- "and that's more than I've got."

"Oh, Petunia," Lily whispered, moving forward impulsively to embrace her, but the blond pulled away. Almost desperately, Lily pleaded, "But wouldn't you be happier single, and free, than in a relationship, and miserable like this?"

_"No_, Lily. I want to get married and have children, and I don't care who it is, as long as I do. This isn't some story, or – your world – some miracle guy isn't going to pop up right after I dump Vernon." She was much calmer now, and starting to seem like herself again. "Anyway, I suppose it could be worse. He's nice enough, he never hits me or calls me names or anything like that, and he seems to genuinely care for me-" -her voice caught for an instant, but only an instant before she determinedly continued naming everything she could think of half-good about her boyfriend.

"He has a stable job now, and a position promised to him after he finishes school; his family is well off, so I don't have to worry about money, not that Nicki's poor; his sister really is a fright, but that can be overlooked; er, I don't believe he would cheat on me – like any girl would consen – _but_, erm, he really is okay; he can't stand anything abnormal, especially magic, but thankfully he doesn't mind you guys-"

"You _told_ him?" Lily cried, forgetting her pity for a moment in indignation. "How could you? You _know_ about the International Statue of Secrecy-"

"Yes, of course, but my entire family is practicing magic. He had to find out sometime. Anyway, like I was saying, he took it pretty well, though he didn't like the idea of having that kind of people for relatives."

"So- what are you going to do? Marry him and go on like you're really in love?"

"Hey, I'm an actress." Petunia flashed a brilliant smile having an uncanny resemblance to Lily's. "I can handle it; I have for the past two years. But – sometimes it gets to me. But I recover – as you just saw."

"And when you're married..."

"There will be no backing out," she said resignedly. "So be it." A short silence, and she added a tad suspiciously, "This is a secret, Lily. No telling your boyfriend, or Rose or Mary, or Anetka and Nicki – especially not Anetka and Nicki."

"But-"

_"No,_ Lily! Look – oh, wait here." She ran out of the room, and Lily could hear her descending into the first floor. After a minute she reappeared, holding one of Anetka's kitchen knives. Lily started slightly when she saw it, causing her sister to scowl. "Don't insult me – here, do that Practical Magic swearing ritual thingy. I know it extends to Muggles. Don't argue with me, just do it. I don't care that you're a witch, I'll find some way to make your life miserable until you do."

She accepted the knife sullenly and tonelessly preformed the rite. "My blood...your blood – our blood." Petunia leaped up cheerfully as soon as it was finished as Lily sat sulkily.

"Good. I know you won't break that. Now be gone so I can contemplate the ironies of life – like how you and I are related."

Silently acknowledging the fact that Petunia was gaining a sense of humor, Lily left the room.

She hated keeping it a secret from Rose, but she did. Petunia had known that much about her – she wouldn't break a vow. They never talked about it again, but Lily started watching Petunia and Vernon more closely. She was right –Petunia was an excellent actress. She had tricked everyone for years. But Lily was rather surprised at herself and her family that they had never doubted Petunia's sincerity; after all, she had the same blood in her veins that Lily and Rose did. But then Lily caught sight of her picture of Severus on her dresser, and figured that when it came to love, all that was of the norm and logical went out the window.

Nicki continued to stall a promise of when Severus could come over again. The couple was exchanging dozens of letters to make up for it. But the sisters were spending more time with their parents this summer. Weeks slipped by.

It was the night of July 22nd. All four sisters were in the living room. Petunia was dutifully writing a letter to Vernon, and Lily and Rose were doing the same to Severus and David, respectively. Petunia and Rose were on opposite ends of the sofa, Lily was using the chair that Severus had at the beginning of the summer, the one closest to the front window, and Mary was across her, curled in the chair, finishing an essay. They had been working in silence for several minutes when their parents came downstairs.

"Girls, we're going for a walk in the park. We should be back in an hour or so – you'd better be in bed by then," Nicki said teasingly. They exchanged goodnights, Anetka kissing Mary and Lily on the top of the head as she passed them, and the couple walked out to their van.

It wasn't very long after this that Mary, upon completing her homework, stood up, stretching, and walked idly around the room to behind Lily's chair, in front of the window, where she stared out. Suddenly, she stiffened. "Lily – Rose – look at this."

Both redheads and the curious blond gathered around their youngest sister, and looked up where she was now pointing. And they saw it: around the waning moon was a very thin, but very definite, ring. Even Petunia knew the Practical Magic prophesy:_ Ring around the moon, danger looms. _

For a moment, none of them moved, they just stood, staring. Mary slowly reached up and touched her tiger's eye choker around her throat – an amulet that had been passed down for generations. Finally, Lily broke the silence.

"It – it probably has nothing to do with us. Something's going to happen, but not here."

"No. Lily, something bad happens everywhere all the time. But when there's a ring around the moon, it involves Practical Magic," Mary insisted. Lily knew that, she was just trying to calm everyone down. But her sisters were looking to her, as though she had some answer. Even Petunia – but she was a Muggle, and these were magic affairs. Lily said nothing, but slowly went around, making sure all of the doors and windows were locked, and then levitating hers, Rose's, and Mary's wands downstairs, where she distributed them.

"Just as a precaution. "

They didn't stay up much longer; forsaking their letters, they only sat around edgily, fidgeting with heir wands or – in Petunia's case – the edges of pillows. Finally they moved upstairs, locking themselves in their rooms, where they each fell into an uneasy sleep.

The next morning two surprisingly similar things happened in two very different mansions. Two owls swooped into each, dropping a newspaper onto a table, and delaying long enough for the head house-elves of each, who, incidentally, both had abilities to read and write, to pay them. As the birds glided back out, the house-elves straightened the papers to take to their masters. But before they did, their eyes fell on the headlines. They froze, and for the first time their actions split.

The first house-elf tore out of the room and up a corridor, shrieking, "Master James! Master David!"

The second also darted out of the room, but up a staircase, turning through a labyrinth of passageways as he shouted simply, "Master! Master!"

House-elf number one reached its destination first. He stood before a closed door, clutching the paper and continuing to shriek for his owner. Finally a sleepy boy with black hair even more tousled than usual opened the door. Behind him was an enormous bedroom that had five beds arranged in a circle. One of them was empty, the bed untouched; the other four were thoroughly rumpled, three of them still having human contents.

"What is it, Flossie?" he asked groggily.

"Look, Master David, look!" He thrust the paper up to him. David took it and squinted at the paper for a few seconds until he remembered there was a reason why the words were still blurring before him. He turned to get his glasses, but Flossie had already rushed in and snatched them up. As he murmured his gratitude, his brother, best friend, and brother's best friend sat up. Peter hadn't been able to stay.

"What does it say, Pronghorn?"

"I'm getting there, Padfoot-" David broke off suddenly, his eyes widening as he absorbed the contents of the newspaper.

"No. No, no, no. Oh God, no." He had leaned against the door, and slid weakly to the ground. Concerned, his three friends jumped off their beds and crowded around him. Sirius pulled it out of his numb hands, scanned the article, and started swearing. James and Remus grabbed it and read it swiftly. James, numb with shock, stared at it in disbelief. Remus, however, turned away and started pulling out his clothes for the day, calling to his friends in a tight voice, "C'mon. Get dressed. We need to go over there _now." _

At the second house, Severus Snape flung open his door and glared down at his house-elf. "What is it, Zephy?" he asked, though not as kindly as David had. Zephy held out the newspaper breathlessly. Severus jerked it out of his hands impatiently – he was not a morning person. His eyes narrowed as he read the front headlines:

**ANOTHER COUPLE MURDERED**

_Last night two more fell victim to the attacks that are occurring more and more frequently. Nickolas and Anetka Evans, a Hogwarts graduate and his wife, who was apparently tutored as a witch privately at home, were found dead early this morning in a park a little outside of Surrey, where they lived. It was determined as a murder because of the eerie green skull-and-snake sign high in the sky above their bodies, the trademark of Voldemort, or, as many are now calling him, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Mr. and Mrs. Evans, who were in their thirties, were the parents of four teenage girls, of which the eldest is a Muggle and the younger three currently attend Hogwarts. The middle two, Lily and Rose Evans, will be starting their sixth years come September, and the youngest, Mary Evans, will be starting her fifth year._

Without a word Severus whirled back into his room, slamming his door shut.

Less than five minutes later, James, David, Sirius, and Remus fell one after another onto the cold marble floor extending a few feet from the fireplace of the Evans' home. As they stood up, they took in the scene. Only Rose and Mary were in the living room. Rose sat on the couch, crying quietly, her face in her hands. Mary was sitting in a chair, not weeping, not moving, though her eyes were quite red. She reminded James and David of an extremely valuable Chinese figurine their mother had, which appeared as though it would break into a million pieces if you touched it. Mary certainly looked this way now, rigidly sitting forward, her hands clasped tightly before her. Above them they could hear someone sobbing unrestrainedly, and another sound reached them that they didn't quite recognize at first – someone was playing the piano at the back of the house, behind the living room.

At once David went around and sat next to Rose, putting his arm around her shoulders gently. Remus was about to move forward as well when he heard a fifth person drop to the ground behind him. Glancing back, he saw Severus dressed in his usual black, kneeling on the ground and pushing his hair back. With barely a thought, Remus extended his hand to help him up. Severus looked surprised, but he disregarded it and stood up by himself. Not the slightest bit embarrassed, Remus turned back around. For the first time since they had become enemies, James, Sirius, Remus, and Snape stood together without acknowledging each other with the usual death glares. For only a few seconds they stood there in silence as David comforted Rose and Mary continued to resemble a wax replica of herself. Finally Severus said in a low voice none of the boys had ever heard him use before,

"Where is Lily?"

Rose stood up, still sniffing, and Mary lifted herself out of her chair like a zombie. The elder led them to the back of the room, where all seven of them stopped.

It was a large sitting room. Along one wall was another long couch, and there were paintings all along the walls, and on the right wall there was a sliding glass door with maroon curtains sweeping above it and dropping on either side. Outside a garden and a large tree were visible. But in the middle of the room there was a large grand piano.

Lily sat on the stool of the piano, her back to them and not moving anything except her fingers on the keys and her foot, which pressed the pedal occasionally. She was playing a simple but elegant song – it was one of the few she knew how to play perfectly. It started off slow and soft, the treble clef playing the melody and the bass merely echoing it, but it gradually grew louder. Distantly the boys heard the sobs upstairs quiet themselves as the music grew clearer, flooding the whole house. Then it switched: the bass clef led as the treble repeated. It crescendoed, the treble and bass combining for the last few measures, which was a repetition of the first line, only much louder, and ritardandoed to a finish. Her fingers continued to hold down the keys even when the last notes had died away. She did not move at all, but sat there, her head slightly bowed.

Severus was the first to break the spell. He slowly walked forward, never making a sound, until he reached her side. Then he slowly put a hand on her shoulder, whispering, "Lily?"

That was all it took. With a low moan Lily sank her face to her hands, tears sliding down one after another, but allowing him to pull her up to her feet and lead her back to the front room where they all gathered. Lily crumpled onto the couch, curling up as much as she could next to Severus, crying onto his neck as he held her tightly. Rose and David took the other side, basically doing the same thing. Mary remained standing, her arms crossed tightly, though now she couldn't keep a few tears from escaping, blink as she would. Sirius, standing by her, gently rested his hand on her shoulder. For a moment, she let him, even seeming to relax some, but then she jerked away, almost as a reflex, moving around to the other side of the chair. Remus sat down on the other side of Lily, placing his hand on her shoulder. Severus barely glanced at him. James angled his chair so it would face Lily, wishing mightily he was in Snape's or even Remus's place, that he could just do _something_ to make her feel better. They remained silent like this for a very long time, the only sounds being Lily and Rose crying and Mary trying not to, along with the sobs upstairs, which had restarted, though not quite as uncontrollably.

At last, Lily, having cried herself out, whispered to Severus's collarbone, "I don't know what we're going to do...we can't stay here, I know that...Vernon's coming for Petunia...but I can't stay here, I just can't, I won't be able to bear it-"

"You can stay with me."

Snape and James had spoken at the exact same time. They eyed each other for a moment in surprise and dislike, then James said, more to his enemy than Lily, "I can take all three-"

"So can I," Severus shot back.

Sirius argued, "Look, Snape, they need to be with their friends-"

He lifted his free hand up in a gesture which clearly said, _And__ whose shoulder is she crying on?_

At this point, Lily slowly sat up, looking around at them all in resignation. Rose was still pressed against David, and Mary trying to be strong even now, but on the verge of collapse. Then, in a quiet, composed voice they barely recognized, she said, "Thank you for your offers. Rose, Mary, could I speak to you for a moment?" With difficulty Rose stood up and followed her two sisters up the stairs.

Lily led them to her room, closing her door before turning to them. She was silent for a moment, her head bowed, hands raised, organizing her thoughts before finally lifting her head to whisper in a weary tone neither of them had ever heard before, "Please don't argue with me about this, I know this is best for each of us. Rose, you need to be with David; Mary, you need to be around your friends; and I need to be with Severus right now. You two are going with the boys, and – I will go with Severus."

_"What?"_ The exclamation was from Rose; she was staring at Lily in incredulous disbelief. "Lily, you can't. You and I have _never_ been apart, not once in our entire lives, and this is _not_ a good time to make it a first."

"Rose," Lily tried, lifting her hands again, "Rose, there is no other way-"

"Yes, there is!" she cried, her high-keyed voice taking an almost hysterical note. "_I_ need you, _Mary_ needs you, we need to be together now, you _can't_ separate us-"

"I can't, Rose!" Lily nearly shouted. The tears had started again. "God, I'm sorry, but I can't go with the boys. I don't know why, but I just really need to be with Severus right now. I can't explain it."

"What are you babbling about?" demanded Mary. "You're not coming with us, we're going with you."

"What?" -in an entirely different tone than Rose had said it in, more of a bewildered one. "But – David-"

"Lily, listen to me," Rose interrupted, putting one hand on her shoulder and the other on Mary's. "I need both of you more than him – I _love_ both of you more than him. And we need to be together."

"We'll follow you to the end of the earth, Lily," Mary whispered, completing the triangle by putting her right hand on Lily's other shoulder. "And that does include Severus's house."

Tears shone bright in Lily's eyes; they spilled over as she pulled them both to her for a tight hug. "Who could wish for better sisters than you?" she said in a choked voice.

Rose was the first to pull away. "I'll go tell them all our decision." Her own voice was not entirely steady either. As she walked out, Lily sank back onto the end of her bed, lost in her thoughts. Suddenly, it hit Mary what they had chosen to do. She dashed after Rose, catching her on the stairs.

"So – that's it?" she demanded. "Just like that, we're going to Severus Snape's house for an indefinite period of time?"

Her strained sister whirled on her, whispering fiercely back, "If you don't want to go, fine. You know Lily would love to send you with the boys; not because she doesn't love you, but she loves you so much she wants you where you're happiest, even if it's not with her. So go on, tell her you've changed your mind-"

"Are you kidding?" Mary shot back. "Like I'm going to let you two alone in his house? But why didn't you try to get her to go to the boys' instead?"

Rose switched back to her worn, tired manner; she was going back and forth from hysterical and panicky to weary and dull. "Didn't you see her face, Mary? I don't know why either, but she really does need him. I can't argue with her about this."

Mary nodded, resigned to her fate, and muttered as she started back up the stairs, "I'll go pack our things with Lily..." Rose paused for a moment, and then continued down the stairs alone.

Not a word had been spoken downstairs since the girls had left and now all five of the sixteen-year-old boys looked up as she appeared at the foot of the stairs. She took a deep breath, and said as evenly as she could, "Thanks again for your offers, but my sisters and I have talked it over, and if your invitation to all three of us still stands, Severus – we accept."

He said nothing to this, only gave her a slight nod, and returned his gaze to the glass table before him as he started making mental preparations for their arrival. The Marauders glanced at each other, adequately baffled, but they didn't comment. Even Sirius knew this wasn't the time. Rose stood there nervously a moment more, trying to think of something to do. She didn't want to go back upstairs and leave the boys alone with Severus again – Lily would take care of her clothes. Suddenly, an idea hit her. Quickly she moved through the living room and into the kitchen, pulling a pot out and filling it with water. David uncertainly followed her.

"Rose? What are you doing?"

"I'm making tea," she answered resolutely, setting the brimming pot on the stove and flicking her fingers at the bottom of it, causing a ring of blue fire to appear beneath it.

Upstairs, Lily sat back on her heels, surveying the two trunks before her. Yes, that was about everything. She had packed everything herself and Rose needed for Hogwarts and the rest of the summer. Mary was still packing, more slowly and sadly. Lily glanced at her, thought for a moment, then got to her feet, saying, "I'm going to check on Petunia." Mary nodded despondently.

Lily walked across the hall and called through the closed door, "Petunia, can I come in?" It seemed her sister was no longer crying, and she could hear her moving around.

"Yeah." Lily pushed the door open and closed it behind her. Petunia's suitcase was open on her bed, and her wardrobe was open, clothes hanging out. Petunia herself was standing before her suitcase, holding a yellow skirt limply, eyes and nose very red. Lily awkwardly walked over and sat on the side of her bed. Surprisingly, Petunia dropped the skirt and sat next to her. They were silent for a bit, and then Lily asked,

"Are you going to be all right at Vernon's?"

Sniffing, she nodded. "Yes, it'll be easy enough to beg off privacy. I'll be fine. But his sister won't be. I cannot _stand_ that girl. She has these dogs – you know I can't stand dogs. She better keep out of my way, or there will be another murder this summer." Another silence, and for the first time she looked her sister in the face. "Why – them, Lily? Why our parents? N-Nicki said they were mainly targeting M-Muggles and Muggle-borns-"

Slowly, Lily shook her head. "I don't know. Nicki came from a wizarding family, and of course Anetka did too-maybe they though she wasn't a 'proper' witch; maybe they were bored, or they just got in their way; maybe-" -a chilling idea struck her- "maybe it was because of _us._"

"Us?" repeated her sister, not comprehending.

"Us...because they adopted _us_, Petunia. You, Rose, and I. Muggle-borns."

"And a Muggle," whispered Petunia, catching her drift.

"Because they cared for us, gave us their own name, showed no difference between us and Mary..." Lily was having trouble breathing. She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands. "Petunia – you're wrong. What you said earlier about my world being a perfect world – it's not. No, not even close. We're all human, it doesn't matter what we're capable of. Whatever world it is, we're still human, and we're still going to find reasons to be prejudiced and to hate and to kill – oh, _God. _It's just a different level, we are prejudiced because – because-" -her mind was struggling to understand it- "you seem so much more helpless and defenseless. We don't know how you get on. And –it's human nature – we're scared of what we don't understand. That's all it is."

It was quiet for a while as they sat side by side – sisters, having the same blood but yet – not having the same blood. Two girls living in such, such different worlds. Finally Petunia said, her voice thoroughly cracking, "Well, it doesn't matter. You'll still have the advantage. We don't even know what we're up against – how can we protect ourselves against that? Even if we did know, it wouldn't do us any good. It's not a matter of weapons, things that can be bought or stolen – it's power – in the blood itself." Petunia, with two witches for blood sisters, understood this perfectly. "It's in you, it's part of you – it's a gift to precious few. And the rest of us – there's nothing we can do. No defense." Lily thought of everything she knew about the Killing Curse. Just a flash of green light. A quick, bright flash, nearly as ominous as the gaze of a basilisk. Yes, how could you protect yourself against that?

They were still for a few more minutes, until the elder let out a slow sigh that closed the matter. "Where are you going?"

"Severus's. All three of us."

"Are – are you going to be okay there?" Petunia sounded awkward. She wasn't used to inquiring after her sisters' welfare.

"Yes."

"Well – what if you and him have a fight, and he kicks you out for some reason?"

"He wouldn't do that!" she cried, shocked at the mere concept.

"Boys can be terribly fickle, sometimes, Lily," Petunia told her, as though she had much experience in that area. "But if anything happened, where would you go?"

"To the boys' – James and David's house."

"Oh." After a moment, Petunia added hesitantly, "I just – want to make sure everything is taken care of for you three. I mean, I know Anetka and Nicki always encouraged me to take care of you – it's too late now, I know, but I'm trying to make it up to them now-"

Tears in her eyes and a boulder in her throat, Lily embraced her sister, choking out, "You _are_ my sister." Those four words had an almost infinite number of meanings. For perhaps the first time, she felt her sister actually relax and hug her back.

Downstairs, Rose lifted out the tea bags from all nine cups. Each boy murmured "Thank you," as she handed him his cup, even Severus, albeit curt. She paused at the last three cups, not wanting to venture upstairs even for a few moments. Who knew the layout of the house and was on fairly good terms with all of her sisters- "Remus, could you please do me a favor and take these up to Lily, Mary, and Petunia? I would levitate them, but I don't think I have the energy." She smiled weakly.

"Of course," he said quickly, leaping up and carefully lifting all three steaming cups up.

Petunia had given Lily license to pack the rest of her clothes with magic as she looked on dejectedly. A soft knock at the door interrupted them.

"Who is it?" they called in unison.

"Remus – Lupin. Rose made tea, and she sent me to bring you some."

Lily looked at the owner of the room questioningly, and the latter said tonelessly, "Come in." He entered, attentively carrying two glasses. He gave them a sad smile, holding out their cups. As they accepted them, he turned to Petunia, giving her a searching look.

"Will you be all right?" he asked softly.

She nodded, managing a small smile. After he left, Lily commented with the air of one pointing out an interesting painting at a museum, "He's a werewolf – did you know?"

Petunia choked slightly on the deep blue liquid. _"What!"_

Lily smiled thinly. "Yes, he was bitten when he was little. But he's a wonderful person; even you have to have noticed that. He's very nice – I think of all the boys, I like him best. But he just has a little problem once a night every month. Other than that, he's perfectly normal."

The blond shook her head in disbelief. "Werewolves – I suppose your boyfriend is a vampire? He certainly fits the profile."

In the kitchen, Rose was scouring a pot that didn't need scouring. Anything to keep her hands busy. Mary had appeared for a few minutes to ask Severus if they could bring their cats – he had nodded yes. She was interrupted by the doorbell. "Can one of you get that?" she called into the living room. Sirius, being the closest, opened the door. The first words that came into his mind were: an overgrown gerbil.

There was a rather fat boy – bigger than Peter, Sirius mused – about his age, looking somber in a black suit. He looked surprised at seeing a male open the door.

"Er, hi," said Sirius. "Who are you?"

"I am Vernon Dursley," he replied, still looking skeptically at Sirius, as though he doubted his right to be there. "I have come for Miss Petunia Evans."

"Ohh! So _you're_ the boyfriend! Well, I'm her sister Lily's friend – Sirius. Erm, come in." He stood back as Vernon squeezed through the door. Everyone looked up at the new arrival. Feeling a sudden need to introduce them, he started pointing them out. "These are my best friends – James Potter, David Potter – and Remus Lupin," he annexed as the last boy made his appearance at the bottom of the stairs. "Guys, this is Petunia's boyfriend, Vernon Dursley." At Vernon Dursley's questioning look, he added, "We're friends of Lily's – from her school."

"Sirius!" Rose stood at the door to the kitchen, her hands covered in suds from scrubbing the bottom of the sink. "You forgot him." She pointed at Severus.

"Oh – yeah. That's, erm," -he was trying to think of an appropriate definition- "Lily's boyfriend. Severus Snape."

Satisfied, she turned to the stairs, doubting the boys and Severus would try anything with a Muggle present. "I'll get Petunia, Vernon."

"Petunia – what are we going to do about a funeral?" Lily asked abruptly, fastening the locks on Petunia's suitcase.

"I don't know!" she wailed. "Is it going to be Muggle – or magical?"

"Are some of your friends coming? Then it'll be Muggle. But what about which cemetery, and the gravestones, and expenses-"

Petunia moaned, dropping onto her bed. "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. God, Lily, we shouldn't have to worry about these details. I wish someone would just take care of it all for us."

Lily sighed herself. "I know. I'll try to get the Ministry to arrange some of it – and Severus will help, he had to bury his uncle a year ago or so."

They were motionless until Rose's voice penetrated through the door. "Petunia, Vernon's here."

"I'll help you carry it downstairs," Lily offered, and the two of them heaved the heavy suitcase off the bed.

"I packed your things," Lily told Rose as they paused in the hallway. Mary appeared at the doorway to her room.

"I'm done – oh – are you leave now?"

Petunia nodded, and, stepping around her suitcase, she awkwardly embraced her youngest sister, murmuring goodbye. Surprised, she reacted almost as stiffly as Petunia would normally have.

"I'll come down with you." Rose said quietly. The elder two lugged it down the steps, Petunia in the front, Rose trailing behind.

Petunia didn't look up at the visitors in the living room. Vernon sprang forward – as must as a man that size could spring – exclaiming, "Petunia, darling!" and taking her suitcase. She stifled another sob, and then turned to quickly hug her sisters. Vernon whisked her out the door – and she was gone.

Lily put her hand to her mouth – for a moment, the boys didn't know whether she was going to be sick or cry – and turned around, unsteadily walking back up the stairs. Rose caught Remus's eye, gave him a meaningful look, and jerked her head toward the stairs. Standing up, Remus nonchalantly moved upstairs after her. Severus was the only one who did not miss the exchange. As Rose headed back toward the kitchen to find something to do – perhaps make more tea – Severus rose and followed. David abruptly stood, as though to stop him, but Snape threw him such a caustic glare he stayed where he was.

Once the white French doors swung shut behind them, he inquired, "Why Lupin?"

Rose lifted herself onto the extremely clean counter, surrendering any ideas of working. "Because he and Lily are very close – she likes him more than all the other boys. And he'll know what to say."

"Why does she like him more?"

"Well – they go way back. I mean, she's known him as long as I have, but they did some stuff together in their first year, I guess that's a reason he like her so much – not like that," she added hastily, seeing his expression. "They're just friends, but really good friends. They have a lot in common too. I think you might have been friends, you and him, if you had met differently."

"Perhaps." It was true he had never hated Lupin as much as Potter and Black.

"Anyway, Lily hasn't been as close to the boys ever since she started dating you." It wasn't an accusation; she said it as though it couldn't be helped. "Except for Remus. Sirius teases her way too much, James – doesn't do anything, Peter's Peter, and David sides with Sirius too often. But Remus never says anything against it. He's practically stopped degrading you all together – not that he ever really did – in fact, he isn't even calling you Snape anymore."

"He isn't?" Severus asked, surprised and wondering what the alternative could be.

"Nope. It's just Severus now."

"Don't his friends disapprove?"

"Of course, but they're too close to do anything about it. Not even Sirius. You see, Remus likes Lily more than he hates you."

"And it's not that way with the rest of them?"

Oops. "Erm-"

"I didn't think so." He sounded pleased, almost.

"No, look, Sirius teases her because he _does_ care – he wants you to break up." She smiled helplessly.

"Rose, I've known Potter, Potter, and Black since they were nine – longer than Lupin has. It's a curious thing how well you get to know your enemies. Let me tell you something – it's nothing but a _pride_ issue. They hate the image. One of their best friends starts going out with their worst enemy, someone they believe is of a _lower_ class, even. A _Slytherin._Not the best picture, is it?"

She shook her head stubbornly. "No, Severus, that's not it. Well, that might matter a little bit to them, but I know Sirius really does care about her."

Remus paused at the top of the stairs, where he saw Lily hesitate, then slipped into the room at the end of the hallways, the room he knew to be her parents'. As quietly as possible he walked up toward the doorway to watch.

The room was just as Anetka and Nicki had left it last night. Nicki's robe hung on the doorknob of his closet, and a book Anetka had been reading was split open to the page she had left off, lying face down on her pillow. With shaking hands she lifted the book up, turning it over. She stared for a moment at the page Anetka had stopped at, and then slowly picked up a ribbon off the table next to the bed that her mother often used as bookmarks. Smoothing it into the center of the book carefully, Lily closed the book and gently set it on the bedside table, behind a picture of all four sisters between the ages of three and five. She sat down on the bed, her hands tightly clasped between her knees.

"Can I come in?"

Lily whirled around to see Remus standing quietly as the threshold. She nodded, and he walked over, sitting next to her. They said nothing for several minutes, until suddenly Lily stood up and walked around the bed, to the other side where a tall cabinet was. Pulling open a drawer, she rummaged through its contents, finally pulling out a photograph, and she handed it to Remus upon returning to his side.

He had barely glanced at it before knowing this had to be a picture of Lily's biological parents. It had a smiling Muggle couple holding two girls – a brunette and a redhead, the mother very pregnant. She was a pretty blond with green eyes. The father was more horse-faced, with red hair. Remus turned it over. On the back someone had written: _William, Mary, Petunia, and Lily Williams. _Lily began an explanation.

"My – dad – gave this to Nicki before he disappeared. For us, I suppose. Nicki would have framed it if we had asked him, but he didn't want to because it was a reminder we weren't really his. But we were free to look at it anytime we wanted to. He was an accountant," she added suddenly. "Our father. Nicki gathered that. And she – our mother – died after giving birth to Rose. That's all we know about either of them."

He pointed at the elder of the two sisters. "Is that Petunia?"

"Yes. Her hair was dark until she was about five. She – doesn't remember them either."

Remus glanced at her, suddenly realizing how close to tears she was. Putting an arm around her shoulders, he whispered, 'But you remember Anetka and Nicki, and that's what counts."

"I know," she said, tears starting to trickle down. "I know. But I can't help but feel I've lost my second set of parents." And it broke; setting her head on his shoulder, she sobbed for the second of many times.At last, they left the bedroom, Lily taking the picture with her. They stopped at her room, where they found Mary sitting on her bed, her forehead in her hands. She got up quickly when she saw them, and it was clear she had been crying again. Lily stepped closer to her, worry and concern in her eyes, silently asking if she wouldn't change her mind. But Mary, just as silently, held her determined refusal.

"Let's go. We've delayed long enough." Mary and Lily each took their trunks, and Remus picked Rose's up.

Rose and Severus were just walking back into the living room when the three of them appeared at the stairs with the trunks.

"Is this everything, Rose?" Lily asked, gesturing to their trunks and the three baskets holding each of their black cats. Rose, suddenly realizing that they were actually leaving For Severus's house now, stood motionless for a few seconds; finally, she nodded. The Marauders awkwardly stood, also seeming to have trouble registering the fact that it was time to depart. Each of them hugged the sisters goodbye, vowing to send thousands of owls. David and Rose were quite unwilling to disconnect; Severus did his best to hide his impatience and disgust. Finally, Lily handed them the ceramic dish on top of the mantle place filled with Floo Powder, and one by one they vanished back through the green fire.

Finally, Severus, Lily, Rose, and Mary were left alone in the living room. Severus asked, nodding at their baskets, "Have they ever gone by Floo Powder before?"

"No. They'll live."

He shrugged slightly. "I'll go first, then; it's The Ruins."

Lily didn't blink, but her younger sisters glanced at each other. Almost apologetically he added, "My uncle named it, I never bothered to change it." Scooping up a handful of the powder, he deftly tossed it in, calling, "The Ruins!" as he stepped in.

Severus stumbled back into his own large sitting room. Zephy was the only one there, looking up at him expectantly. Severus curtly commanded, "Get everyone here. Lily and her two sisters are coming to stay." The elf dashed away, and Severus had barely turned back around to catch Lily as she fell forward.

Lily looked around uncertainly as her boyfriend set her trunk and hamper down. It was a very long, rectangular room, rather dark. There was an elaborate staircase leading up that seemed to divide into a dozen separate passageways. As Rose and Mary emerged behind her, half a dozen house-elves raced up, bowing slightly to Severus and looking curiously at the new arrivals. Their master appointed their luggage to them, and then glanced back at the girls.

"Would you like to go to your room now, and I can show you around tomorrow?"

"That would be good," Lily whispered rather faintly. She didn't know why, but it seemed that now, at Severus's house, her knowledge that her parents were dead was intensified. Of course, the entire morning had been a nightmare, but for a few seconds she could push it aside, even smile – like when she was in Petunia's room. The atmosphere was the same; she could delude herself into thinking everything was all right. But here, that wasn't possible. The only reason they could be here was if something drastic happened.

He led the girls up the staircase and into one of the hallways. At first it was straight; then it sloped down and became very narrow. They went through a door on their left, which opened to a wide, brightly lit passage, where the right wall was made entirely out of windows. Outside a green lawn stretched away from the house, until it met a forest not too far away. But they didn't get to see much more, for Severus directed them into a darker corridor. They hadn't gone far down this one when he stopped and touched a door on his left.

"This is my room. You can use this one" -he pushed open the door directly across from his- "if you like." The girls cautiously entered.

It was an enormous bedroom. The back wall had a tall window with a window seat, curtains half-hiding it. Against the left wall was an immense bed with a high canopy stretched out. There were desks and chairs and poufs arranged all around the room, and a fireplace across from the bed. Two open doors showed a bathroom half the size of the bedroom, and a long wardrobe, respectively. The house-elves scurried past and set down the trunks to the wardrobe, opening them to unpack. But suddenly a wave of exhaustion hit Lily, and she realized that she had never wanted to be alone with her sisters so much in her life. "Severus? We can unpack ourselves – could we just be alone for a while now?"

He nodded, and ordered the house-elves in a tone of authority that Lily had never heard before, "Out. Now." The creatures immediately dropped whatever they were doing and hurried out, but Severus stopped the last one. "I'll have Tali right outside – if you need anything, she can either get it herself or find me." He softly shut the door.

Hours passed. Severus was restlessly walking around his house, always returning to where Tali sat patiently outside their door. He wanted to help, do something, but he knew they needed to be alone. Finally Zephy came up to him when he was sitting in his room, brooding.

"Miss Lily is very pretty, Master."

He merely nodded.

"If Zephy could make a suggestion – in the evening, Master could bring the misses dinner, and ask to stay and eat with them there."

Surprised at the idea, Severus glanced at him, and nodded again approvingly.

The sun had just started to droop behind the trees when Severus, with two house-elves trailing behind him, each carrying two plates, knocked on the door. A few seconds elapsed, and Lily's tired voice answered, "Come in."

Mary was huddled on the window seat, staring out at the sunset. Lily and Rose were stretched lengthwise across the bed. The servants hurriedly set the plates before each of them on trays and departed.

"I brought you dinner – I thought you might be hungry."

And they were – the realization came as a surprise as the strong smell of pasta reached the sisters' noses. They had just been preparing breakfast when the owl from the Ministry had arrived, and they had never thought of lunch. Quietly murmuring their gratitude, they sat up and accepted the food.

"Do you mind-" Severus gestured toward a chair with one hand, holding his plate with the other.

"No, no, go ahead," Lily said quietly.

They ate in silence for several minutes. Then, Mary turned her head to him, her eyes and voice icy, almost challenging, "Has anyone you ever loved died?"

He paused, glancing at her, and his reply was calmer and more conversational. "My uncle died about two years ago, but I hardly cared for him. I won't pretend that I know how any of you feel." The threat in her eyes diminished somewhat, and she returned to her food. After a minute Severus added, "I have a Quidditch pitch. Full set, six hoops, four balls, everything. My uncle installed it when I was seven and took up stalking him. It was the one thing I ever asked him for. You're a Beater, correct?" Mary glanced up, nodding. "And there's a pool on the side of my house – you can almost see it from your window. And on the third floor there's a library." Both Lily and Rose looked up. "Well, I'm not sure if you'll be interested in the subjects, but books are books." Finishing, a house-elf carried their dishes away, and Severus bid them goodnight.

The next morning after they had eaten breakfast, he knocked on the door again, asking if they were ready to be shown around. They were, so he led them down to the first floor, and outside, where they caught their first glimpse of the house they were living in.

It was a vast, black manor. The girls had to take several steps back to see it all. It was four, maybe five stories tall, and parts of it jutted up and outward. An entire hallway seemed to stick out from the side of it. Balconies ran along the edge of the roof, coming to sharp points in the corners. Windows were of all shapes and sizes, some shuttered closed, others flung open and curtains blowing out. All of the walls, balcony railings and borders were black.

"Welcome to the Ruins," Severus said simply.

Behind it was a forest, stretching across for perhaps miles, and who knew how deep. On the sides and in front of the colossal mansion a lawn spread out. A dirt road, curving from the left side of the domain, ran straight out from the front, way down, where a black iron gate finally blocked it. The gate extended almost as far as they could see both ways, finally inclining into the trees.

There were no other houses in sight.

"It fits you," Lily said finally.

"Should I take that as a compliment?"

"From me, yes."

"I like it too," Mary said unexpectedly.

"Thank you."

"Yeah, it's nice," Rose murmured, not wanting to be left out.

He motioned them toward the right of the house. "Come, I'll show you the courtyard and pool."

The right side was very different. Shrubs and Japanese trees grew, and stone benches were located here and there. Ivy covered the black wall. Flowers actually grew wild all over. There wasn't a real path, but just stepping stones. A fountain was placed in a ring of bushes. It was a stone woman, her knees slightly bent, face upturned, hands lifted up together, as though receiving something from above. Water flowed from her palms, swirling magically around her whole body. Not far away from that was the pool.

It was irregularly shaped. One wide side just sloped gently into the water, not unlike a beach, even with gentle waves washing up. The far corner had stairs leading down, and the end across it was just a sheer wall. Though trees and grass grew right up to the sides, not a single blade or leaf was in the water.

"That part is about twenty feet deep," Severus said, pointing to it. Rose kicked off a sandal and walked to the beach side, dipping her foot in the clear water.

"It feels good," she said softly.

"You can use it anytime you like. The Quidditch field is at the back of the house."

Once again he guided them through the rest of the courtyard and toward the forest.

There wasn't as much room between the mansion and the forest as there was in the front. But in that area was a full size playing field, with the six hoops, minus the stands. There was only one balcony on this side of the house, except the one on the roof, but it was an impressive one. As high as the hoops, it was in the center of the wall, sticking out in a semicircle. The diameter was about twenty feet, and the width at the wall maybe thirty. The railing wasn't iron, like the others, but carved stone, and shorter, so one could sit on it, though it was still black. A few chairs and a table were visible on it.

He pointed to a door at ground level. "That's where all the equipment is. Same with the pool, feel free to use it whenever." Glancing at Lily, he asked, "Do you want to see my car?"

"Sure."

"The garage is on the left of the house."

It wasn't really a garage – that is, it had no door; just a cave-like opening in the side of the house. But the car inside was anything but prehistoric. It was a metallic silver-green sports car.

"Wow, Severus, it's beautiful." said Lily, stopping in front of it.

"Thank you," he replied, running his hand down the side of his car, and glanced up at her inquisitively. "I thought that we could take a ride sometime..."

Lily looked up at him, gave a very small smile, and nodded her assent.

The library was located on the third floor. Despite having a doorway, there was no door, and inside were rows and rows of tall bookshelves – not unlike Hogwarts, only not as big. The girls caught some of the titles – Avada Kedavra, Paraphrased, Blood Hunger, and Liquid Power. Many others were written in different languages – Lily recognized French, Greek, Latin, and Mermish.

At the back of the library was a wide open area, an antique rug on the floor, two sofas facing each other, and a massive fireplace on the wall that a fire currently resided in. Above the silver, marble was a large portrait of a black snake, its head forward, forked tongue snaked out, its eyes – its eyes were green flames – staring straight forward, seeming to follow you wherever you went.

Beside one of the sofas was a small round mahogany table with a stack of parchment, a quill, and an inkwell on it. All four of the teenagers sat down on the sofas, Lily and Severus on one, and Rose and Mary on the other.

There was quiet for a few moments, until Severus spoke. "I hate to bring this up, but do you have any plans for a funeral?"

The sisters looked at each other, rather blankly, but Lily was the one who responded. "I talked a little about it with Petunia, who doesn't want anything to do with it. We got as far as deciding it'll be Muggle before she completely withdrew."

"Muggle? Why?" asked Mary, looking like she was trying not to include the one male in the room in the discussion; it was almost as though she were embarrassed to inquire about it, showing her lack of knowledge about the family problem in front of him.

"Because some of Petunia's friends are coming. Wizards can dress up as Muggles. Muggles can't dress up as wizards."

"Oh."

"So has she left it completely in your hands?" he questioned. Lily nodded, looking like she didn't appreciate this responsibility at all.

"If you would let me help, perhaps," Severus said carefully, but they still caught the meaning. Mary rose up in her seat, as though to silently protest, but Lily shot her a desperate, pleading look that said clearly, What else are we going to do? The youngest slumped back, surrendering. He paused, and then continued. "I think – well, from what I know from my uncle's funeral, because you are all underage-"

"Petunia's less than a month away from being seventeen," interrupted Rose.

Severus hesitated, then said as gently as he could, "Rose, she's a Muggle..."

Lily sucked in her breath rather sharply, and Rose muttered bitterly, "Oh, of course, how could I have forgotten, she might as well not exist at all as far as the Ministry is concerned..."

He waited again for the stinging moment to pass, then went on, "The Ministry will assist you, to a degree, because you are underage. That's what they did with me, and I believe they have a certain obligation to, because they are somewhat responsible for letting the murderer run around loose in the first place. Besides, they are rather eager to do whatever they can to help, even indirectly, to the situation – they're starting to look bad in the papers. The majority of the expenses should be covered, and the funeral will be arranged, unless you wish to do it yourself-" Lily shook her head sadly, knowing she was reflecting her sisters' replies as well. They were dead – what did it matter, really? "Er, the date might be for you to say, though it should be done within a week. But it'll take time to coordinate a little with your sister, won't it?"

"A bit. She really doesn't care either, I think."

"All right. I could send a letter to the Ministry today, if you wish, letting them know how much they can take care of. But – your sister wouldn't care about the date? Then when do you want it?"

Lily glanced at her two sisters sitting across from her – the redhead shrugged slightly, and Mary's eyes challenged the point of the whole affair. Glancing back at him, she asked, mystified, "What day is it?"

"Wednesday – the 24th of July."

Looking back at her sisters, she suggested tentatively, "Saturday?" Getting the same response as before, she confirmed, "Saturday."

Petunia's reply, returned by Severus's speediest owl the next day, stated she was absolutely indifferent to the entire issue, and to just tell her where and when. The girls ended up picking the graveyard – the same one Nicki's parents and Anetka's sister had been buried in. The news was spread, the time and details established, and all they had to do was – wait.

Meanwhile, living at the Ruin's proceeded smoothly. Severus refused to let them atrophize away in their room, as it seemed they had first intended to do, almost literally dragging them out to do something – swim, fly, read, run, anything. He taught Lily to drive. They went out for a few rides, sometimes alone, sometimes with her sisters. All in all, it was a relative surprise when Saturday morning dawned.

The other day they had all gone out and met Petunia in a Muggle clothing store, where all four sisters bought matching black dresses. The younger three were startled by Petunia's new attitude – she was pale and quiet, missing her usual acid manner, which threw them all off. She didn't complain at all about the dresses or anything else as a matter of fact, which was something else new, but it wasn't exactly without a reason.

Now, as they awoke and slid out of bed, even more slowly than they had the past few mornings, they paused frequently in eating and getting dressed. The dresses were simple, really – just black dresses, with short sleeves and a button less collar, the hem extending to their knees. They didn't do anything with their hair – Mary, after a moment of consideration, unbraided the black locks and brushed them smooth, and all three combed their hair back, securing it at the base of the back of their necks with a velvet black scrunchi. They didn't wear much jewelry at all; only the silver earrings they got from their parents a few Christmases ago, and Lily impulsively clasped on her black choker. Shortly after they were done, Severus called Lily out into the hallway.

"Is it all right?" he asked, a bit awkwardly. He was as uncomfortable with asking opinions as showing his gratitude, Lily noted silently. He was wearing Muggle clothes – black boots, pants, shirt, and tie, which the latter practically camouflaged with the shirt. His silky (the boys preferred "greasy") black hair combed straight down, parted in the exact middle, touched his shoulders now. Lily nodded, with the slightest of smiles. Moving forward, she hugged him, resting her head on his shoulder. After a moment he whispered, "I'm sorry, Lily."

She sighed. "Severus, you don't have to say that."

"No," he protested, pulling back slightly to make her look him in the eye. "I mean it, really. I am sorry this happened to you – Lily, you had such a perfect life, I know. I saw all those pictures you had. You had a family, a real one, parents that cared. You had been, until now, free from – everything, you didn't have to deal with losing people you loved. I'm sorry your world crashed like this. You didn't deserve it."

Tears made her eyes brighter than they already were; she leaned forward again and cried into his shirt.

The Ministry had indeed scheduled nearly everything, and so the service was to start at 11:00, ending at noon. But the cemetery where it all took place was quite a distance from Severus's home, and besides they had been asked to arrive earlier, so it was at 10:15 that they finally left. Like they had done in the past few days, Lily sat in the front of the car with Severus driving beside her, and her sisters in the back seat. As they drove through the gate, and it swung shut behind them, Lily impulsively twisted around in her seat to glance back. She had seen before the black letters proclaiming THE RUINS on the iron gate before the manor in the background, but this time it struck her differently. She couldn't really explain it – just a feeling that when she returned through that gate next, it would be more permanent. Before, it seemed temporary. But after her parents were buried, where she went then seemed more...critical.

The entire ride was silent. Lily stared out the window, elbow against the door, head resting on her hand. She wasn't sad, exactly, but more melancholy. Severus kept one hand on the steering wheel and the other on her hand. He had the roof of the convertible up so it wouldn't blow their hair.

It wasn't until they neared their destination that Lily realized what a beautiful day it was. Vivid blue sky, absolutely no clouds – even the trees appeared especially green. All very picturesque. The sort of day Anetka had loved. Had.

As they pulled into the parking lot, she could see people milling around at the entrance of the cemetery. The first people she recognized were a group of five boys, obviously uncomfortable in their dark Muggle clothes – the Marauders. In the backseat, Rose caught her breath sharply, and both leaned forward. The boys, too, noticed the car drive in before them, though they couldn't see the passengers through the tinted glass, so their attention was evidently merely caught by the car's appearance. This impression was confirmed by Sirius's calling out as Severus parked not far away,

"Hey, I like your car!"

Amused smiles played at the corners of the girls' mouths, and with a quick gesture, Severus indicated he should get out first. It really was amusing to watch the boys' expressions go from innocent curiosity to shock, then to mortification as Snape stepped out of the driver's seat. James and Peter slapped Sirius on the back, and the latter quickly turned away. But Severus called to him,

"Not that your opinion matters much to me, Black, but thanks anyway." Walking around to the other side, he opened the door for Lily. The boys recovered their self-respect enough to hurry forward to greet the girls.

However, James was struck by the couple standing beside the car, next to each other. Lily had always been pale and slender, but she seemed different now. It had extended to her face – she looked solemn, very serious, a screaming contrast to the forever-cheerful girl she had always been before. Now – with her dark but bright hair smoothed back away from her face – she actually resembled Snape, to an extent. He had never seen them before like that – they had always been the odd couple, the complete opposites, like Sirius had said. But now they seemed to fit each other: both so thin and cold. James nudged his best friend and nodded to see if he got the same impression.

Sirius frowned slightly. "He's changing her."

At the front of the graveyard, they were accosted by a prim, businesslike woman with dark hair pulled tightly black into a bun at the nape of her neck and black oval glasses, holding a clipboard. "Are you the daughters of the deceased?" she inquired, motioning to the girls of the group.

"Yes," said Lily, deciding that was the most terrible label that had ever been flung upon her, excluding none.

"Come with me, please." The woman led them quickly through the cemetery on a path, until they came to a little area where a green tent had been erected. Lily was quite sure that all three of their hearts missed a few beats when they saw the two coffins side by side underneath it. But their guide took them to the other side, where their eldest sister stood, staring off across the rows of graves. She turned around only when she heard them approaching.

With all four of the daughters of the deceased present, the woman adjusted her glasses and began to rapidly read off the clipboard. "Foremost, the Ministry of Magic would like to extend its deepest sympathies and regrets for this unfortunate loss, and offer their assistance for any problems that may arise in the upcoming months. Also, you may rest assured that we are doing everything within our power to apprehend and bring to justice the culprit responsible for these deaths and others." She inhaled, flipping over a page. "The Ministry of Magic was happy to arrange the funeral for you and settle several financial issues that have arisen. Therefore, after subtracting the few expenses for this funeral and burial, we have divided it all into four equal parts – the majority will be held in trust for you until you each, in your own turn, become of age. However, a small portion will be allotted to you every month to spend as you will until then." She pushed a thick envelope into Lily's dazed hand and inhaled once more. "That is a statement of your financial status both as a whole and a part, and what you will receive as a pension, etc. The money itself will stay in the Gringotts vault located in Diagon Alley, of course. As for the funeral today, it will be relatively simple. These four chairs under the tent are for you. The order is, from right to left, Miss Mary Evans, Miss Petunia Marianna Evans, Miss Lily Marie Evans, and Miss Rose Maria Evans."

"Excuse me," Lily interrupted, half-wondering if she could even stop this machine, "but you've switched part of the order. Petunia's the oldest, and Mary's the youngest."

She studied the redhead over the rim of her glasses, as though really looking at her for the first time, and then flipped over a few more pages on the clipboard. "I understand that the eldest three, Misses Petunia, Lily, and Rose are not biological children of the deceased, but adopted, and there are no blood ties whatsoever?"

Lily had never felt more distantly connected to Anetka and Nicki. "Er, yes, that's right-"

"And that the youngest here, Miss Mary, is the one biological daughter that the deceased conceived and bore?"

Lily was quite sure that if this woman referred to her parents as "the deceased" one more time, she would throttle her on the spot. "Yes."

"Miss Evans" -evidently she didn't know which was which- "this is how it works. The biological children are first, followed by the adopted ones, in chronological order."

"But that's not the way it works!" Rose broke in. "Our parents always told everyone that Petunia was the firstborn. They never mentioned we were adopted."

"But in this situation-" she began, but Mary had reached her limit as well.

" 'This situation' is their funeral. They would have wanted it this way."

Taken aback, the representative surveyed the three, and then glanced at the tall silent blond.

Petunia shrugged. "You better do as they say."

Surrendering, the woman flipped back several pages and made a note with the pen residing patiently behind her ear. "All right, then. It is your ceremony. And it's about to begin. Go on in and sit as you will." With that she withdrew.

Lily was surprised by the number of people that started to gather around the green tent as she sat down between Petunia and Rose. A number of them were Petunia's acquaintances, but there were her roommates, Alice and Nicole, and the boys' parents. Mary's classmates were lingering at the back, and so were the younger two Gryffindors Quidditch players. Then there were all of Anetka and Nicki's own friends and colleagues huddled solemnly together, along with a half dozen other people Lily hadn't expected would come. Of course, the boys, Severus, and Vernon, were on their direct left.

At last a stocky priest came up to the stand beside the coffins. He was from the city Nicki had grown up in, and was the one who actually wedded Nicki to Anetka. He hadn't known their father especially well, but he did qualify for speaking at Nicki's and his wife's funeral, which was what the Ministry had been looking for.

The address wasn't a particularly moving one. Lily let the words blow over her as he droned on and on about their love, determination, and charity in adopting three forsaken babies while expecting their own firstborn. Meaningless. It all felt meaningless to her. A thousand regrets were running through her mind, things that had happened and things that never would. The time, just a few weeks ago, Anetka got upset because Petunia and Lily were bickering. The time Nicki had asked her to go somewhere with him for fun, but she hadn't. And what about graduation – her and her sisters' weddings – who would walk her down the aisle? – her children. They would never see their grandchildren. Who would she turn to when she had a question about looking after her own babies? She was starting to feel pricks in her eyes now.

As all things must, the priest eventually closed off his message. Though none of them were aware they were in sync, all four daughters closed their eyes as the coffins sunk slowly and ominously into the ground. The crowd started to shuffle past them, murmuring their sympathies and condolences. Mrs. Potter hugged them tightly, making them all vow that if they had the smallest need, they would come to her and her husband. The boyfriend and boys approached only Petunia – nothing needed to be said between them and the other three, and vice versa with Vernon.

Lily's relief when the last person stammered their sorrow and moved on could not be expressed in any. Petunia stood and decidedly walked off making her unquestionable way to a place of questionable certainty. Rose wandered off with David, his arm around her shoulders. The youngest had moved over to the rest of the boys, as she was wont to do. Severus was still leaning against a pole supporting the tent, his arms crossed, his gaze on Lily, who at last stood.

"I'm going to take a walk," she said distantly, more or less to him. He nodded, understanding.

Lily slowly started out between the rows and rows of graves, her eyes lowered to the inscriptions on each, her mind doing the quick subtraction of years. Infants. Children. Teenagers. Young adults. Middle-aged. Old people. Some buried a century ago, some last week. What category would she be in when it was her turn? It was a strange thought, one that she wasn't sure if she liked or not. And what about her children? How old would they be when people gathered for their funeral?

Pushing the morbid thoughts away, she moved with a little more direction toward the richer part of the graveyard. The gravestones here were bigger, more elaborate, but some forgotten. Sad. How many years would it be until her grave was forgotten? How many years until all who knew her were also gone? Stopping at one of the biggest mausoleums, she sat down on the steps leading up to it.

"Did you want to be alone?"

Jumping slightly, she whipped around to see a sixteen-year-old with black hair standing awkwardly at one side of the tomb. "Oh, I did, James, but it's all right – sit down." He complied, moving next to her on the shaded steps. Silence reigned for a minute, and then he spoke.

"I can't imagine what it would be like to lose my parents at sixteen."

Smiling bitterly, it was a moment before she replied. "Neither could I. But it's not up to you. One day they're there, and the next they aren't. And you have to deal with it whether you want to or not. You're on your own." More moments of no sound but the wind, then she whispered, "I'm scared, James." He quickly looked at her, waiting for her to continue before speaking. "I'm scared. I'm not only on my own, but I have to take care of Rose and Mary too. Petunia – she's having a temporary feeling of guilt. She wants to help, but doesn't know how. It'll wear off soon enough anyway, probably as soon as get back to school." Lily took a deep, shuddering breath. "James, we only have two years left at Hogwarts – then what? What then? We'll be completely on our own."

Cautiously, almost hesitatingly, he put his hand on her shoulder. "Lily, you'll never be completely on your own. You'll always have us – your friends. Do you think we'd let anything happen to you, Rose, or Mary? Lily, I promise you this one thing – no matter what, I'll be there, for whatever you need. You'll have me."

Lily smiled, feeling strongly confused. Well, this was the last person she expected of the boys to say that, considering the past year. "Just you?"

He laughed, quickly taking his hand off. "No, all of the Marauders, of course. But, just speaking for myself, I'm saying I'll be there."

Silence succeeded confusion. And what made him think he was more special to her than any of the other boys?

"I thought you wanted to be alone, Lily."

Both she and James turned to see Severus standing where James had. "I did, but I don't anymore. Sit, if you'd like." She knew better than to give her rather controlling boyfriend a direct command. He slowly did so, staring at James hard before lowering himself down to the stone step and taking Lily's hand. Once more they lapsed into silence, this time a tenser one. But again, James found something to say.

"My mother meant what she said, you know. You can come over anytime you want to, you know. Just a visit for a day or so. She'd love to make sure you're doing all right."

"Yeah, your mother's cool. I like her a lot. Rose or Mary'll want to visit, I know, so we'll probably drop by at least once before the summer's over."

He quickly looked her in the face. "So you're going back with – him, then?"

"Yes," Severus said curtly, before Lily could say anything. Raising his eyebrows, James glanced at her, as though waiting for verification. She gave a brief nod.

Nothing more was said for a while. Lily leaned back on her palms between the two rival boys, staring up at the azure sky, lost in thought. Abruptly, she sat back up. "Do either of you know if Petunia has left yet?"

"I believe she's still around, somewhere," answered Severus.

"James, can you please do me a favor and go find her and tell her that I said not to leave yet? I need to talk to her..."

Ten minutes later, Petunia, Lily, Rose, and Mary were sitting in a Muggle café across the street with steaming cups in front of each. Vernon, surprisingly, had paid for their drinks. Lily still had the envelope given her by the unshakable representative. She had opened it and distributed the papers among them, and was now trying to grasp the meaning of all the complex, formal statements and figures. Her endeavors were rewarded with a headache. "All right – Petunia, I think it's saying you'll get your entire quarter of it on your birthday in thirteen days. The rest of us will get a little on the first of every month until we each turn seventeen. Then we'll get the rest of our quarters."

"Have you worked out what the total amount is, for all of us combined?" Petunia asked, scanning her papers.

"Er – I think this is it. It, erm, isn't much." Lily drew out one of hers and pointed to a number near the bottom of it. Her older sister's eyebrows shot up.

"Ah."

"What is it?" Rose asked curiously, leaning forward. Almost instinctively Lily pulled it back.

"No, don't worry about it."

"I thought Nicki had more than that," protested Petunia, obviously ignoring Rose and Mary.

"I guess not...I think I heard something about his company dwindling recently."

"How much is it?" Mary echoed Rose's inquiry.

"Don't – worry – about – it," Lily repeated, enunciating each word slowly. "Just take what is given to you each month, and I'll take care of the rest."

Petunia decided to help. "Anyway, what are you going to do now?"

It was directed more toward the younger two than Lily. "Are you staying with Severus, Lily?" the eldest of them queried.

"Well, yes-"

"Then so are we."

"Ahhh – Rose, Mary..." Groaning, Lily rested her head on her hands. "You really don't have to do this, I know you'd rather be with the boys. Honestly, I'd be happier knowing you are happier."

"Well, too bad," Rose said mercilessly. "You can't get rid of us, try as you may."

"Yeah, I think we already had this conversation." added Mary.

"Remind me again why you're refusing to go with them?"

"Oh, it's quite simple. Between you and them, we pick you."

"And I'm not leaving you alone."

"But I won't be alone, Mary!"

"Precisely."

Lily opened her mouth to protest, and then thought better of it. Instead she said, "Look, I have an idea. You two go home now with James and David, and tonight you can come back to Severus's through Floo Powder, either to get your stuff to go there for however long, or just to come back. All right?"

The two looked at each other, silently debating whether or not to risk such a great and mighty temptation. Mary looked worried; Rose bit her lip, and then slowly replied, "Okay, I guess so...just for the afternoon."

"And then you decide whether you want to stay there or at Severus's." Lily added quickly.

But, in spite of what must have been countless regrets, that night she slept in between her sisters in the room across from Severus's.


	15. Part Six of Book Six

**_Part Six_**

    At half past twelve, Lily's eyes flew open.  She never knew exactly what it was that woke her up, but she was awake, wide awake and feeling somewhat restless.  She lay still for a few moments, listening to the wind blow outside.  Then she very slowly and gingerly sat up, trying not to disturb the girl on either side of her.  Slipping out from between the sheets, she crawled down the bed and slid onto the soft carpet floor.  Moving silently across the room, she parted the curtains enough to peer out at the moonlit courtyard beneath the window and the stirring forest to her left.  Suddenly, a desire struck her to go somewhere, do something.  She glanced at Rose's sleeping form – the latter had a tendency to wake up within a few minutes before or after she did.  But this was apparently a rare exception.

     Taking a candle out of a drawer and wrapping a filmy gown around her, Lily left her room, and closed the door noiselessly behind her.  She blew softly on the wick: a flame flickered up.  Holding the weak light up, she walked down the hallway.  When she reached a split, she deliberately chose the one she had never been down before.  Tonight she wanted to go somewhere new.

     So the midnight roam began.  For nearly an hour Lily walked through the passages and dusty wings, forcing doors open with magic when she must.  Something kept driving her on, pulling her up stairs and impulsively turning her down obscure hallways.  She wasn't frightened; she didn't know why, she should have been, but she wasn't.  The candle in her hand gave her a strange sense of security, too.  The mere, flickering light that shone alone in the dark rooms without windows reminded her of its origin – Practical Magic.  There was, perhaps, very little of the old but strong magic running through her blood now, but enough, she believed, to protect her from utter mortal peril without her wand.  _That _ wouldn't have been fair.

     Once, she to work especially hard to open a door – in fact, she had been about to give up, despite the insistent, inexplicable urge that she _had_ to go through that door, when, with what sounded like, in the impregnable silence, a deafening click, it swung open.  Lily hesitated for a moment, staring down the seemingly endless tunnel of black, and then glanced back at the equally dense dark behind her before moving forward.

     But this corridor was different.  Her meager light revealed nothing out of the ordinary, but instead she heard whispers – murmurs and hisses all around her.  At first she was sure she was imagining it, but they became clearer.  Heart beating fast, she tightened her grip on the candle, forcing one foot in front of the other as she strained to understand them.  She started to catch a few phrases:

     "...does she think she is?"

     "Strange blood...."

     "...doesn't realize...."

     "-ill fate."

     "Alas, innocence is often a magnet for calamity-"

     Lily hit her head against a door in front of her and yelped.  Instantly, the voices ceased.  With a trembling hand she searched for the doorknob.  Trying not to think about what she would have done if it had been locked, she twisted it open and rushed out into a large circular room with one long, thin window that ran up the wall, bending inward into the ceiling, where it wound around in a wide, thin spiral that eventually led to a domed circle in the middle of the ceiling – the entire arrangement filled the room with blessed moonlight.  She collapsed, shaking onto the window seat beneath it.  Her heart had finally slowed down to something close to normal when a voice caused her to jump a good eight inches – her heart, double that.  

     "Is the Miss Lily be needing anything?"

     Zephy the house-elf stood in a doorway to the left of the one Lily had come from.  "God, Zephy, you scared me," Lily whispered, her heart pounding again.

     The elf bobbed his head apologetically.  "Zephy very sorry, miss.  But is there something Miss Lily be needing?  The misses do not usually walk about late at night."

     She had to smile.  "No, I'm fine." But as Zephy continued to stand where he was, a thought came to her.  "What if I wanted something really unusual?  Would you be able to get it?"

     He nodded gravely.  "We have many, many different foods.  Master has only asked a few times for something we's did not have."

     She thought for a moment, them said impulsively, "All right – I'd like a bowl of cherries, please."

     Zephy vanished from whence he came.  Lily had just reached the thirty-seventh second when he reappeared, bearing a large bowl of red cherries on a cushion.  Impressed, she popped one in her mouth, but as the servant started to back out again, she called through it, "No – stay here.  I want to talk to someone." He obliged her, sitting down in the light of the outermost window spiral.  "So, Zephy, how long have you been in the Snape family?"

    "Zephy is first being brought a long time ago, when Mistress, Master's mother, was pregnant with him."

     Lily offered him one, but he shook his head.  "So you've known Severus his entire life."

     "Yes, Miss Lily."

     Meditating on this, she ate a few more cherries, and then asked, "When did he first mention me?"

     "When Master came home for Easter break in his third year, he is telling Zephy about his arguments with the bad Gryffindors – no offense, please, Miss Lily – and Master told Zephy about one of their friends that _helped_ him.  After he said that, Master was quiet.  Zephy could see, even then, that something about this girl is very special to Master."

     "That early, then?" she mused.

     "Yes, Miss – and that summer, he is talking still about you – and next, even more.  Now...it is like you have become all he sees and knows.  Bad Gryffindor boys is forgotten.  You, Miss Lily, have become his life.  If you go, he will be a shell.  No more Master.  All feelings gone." Zephy stopped and took a deep breath, looking half-frightened at all he had said.  

     Lily was more than half-frightened.  She had known he loved her, that she was practically all he had, but she hadn't realized how – addicted – he was.  Sometimes, she caught a glimpse – when  he held her so tightly, as though afraid she would dwindle away, or a few other times, like at the beginning of the summer, or at the funeral, when staring into his eyes, she saw something so deep and intense, so desperate, it scared her.  It made her feel like she didn't know what she had gotten herself into, something over her head that would eventually overwhelm her.  Now, once again, she was conscious of a responsibility that she wasn't at all sure she could handle.

     "I know," she whispered finally, staring unseeingly at the wall across from her.  "Believe me, I know."

     A troubled silence fell.  Zephy inched forward, looking up at her hesitantly as though wondering if he dared to voice his thoughts.  "If you please, Miss Lily – Zephy is meaning no offense – but – and Zephy asks in Master's interest – does the Miss Lily really love Master?"

     Lily nodded without hesitation.  "Yes, I do, Zephy." Leaning her head back, she added softly, "Very much."

     "Well, that's good to know," a different voice said.  Severus came walking in through the same doorway Zephy had.  He stopped.  "Telling family secrets, Zephy?" By his expression, Lily was sure he had only heard the last part of what was said, but apparently there was something related to surprised guilt in hers.  

     "No, Master," he said quickly, edging discreetly out of the room.

     Moving over to where she sat, Severus queried with a formal air, "And what are you doing here at 1:20 in the morning?"

     "Eating cherries," she answered promptly, raising the bowl up to him.  "Care for one?" Allowing a rare smile – well, not rare for her – he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall next to her.  Lowering the bowl, she added simply, "I woke up and didn't feel like going back to sleep."

     "Understandable." Uncrossing his arms, he pulled her to her feet.  "Let _go_ of the cherries," he commanded, gently prying her fingers of f the bowl and setting it down where she had sat.  "Zephy will get it," he reassured her, seeing her gaze reluctantly at it as she was pulled unwillingly away.

     Once again, Lily walked through the halls of the Ruins, though this time with a guide.  He showed her the hidden doors, the trapdoors in the floors and walls, and the strangely curving stairs that twisted this way and that.  Once, he started down a corridor, and then checked himself.

     "No – I shouldn't show you at night.  I will tomorrow."

     She was curious, but refrained from asking.  For a while longer he led her around, neither of them speaking.  No more voices made themselves audible to her.  Finally, when she had to repeatedly let go of his hand to cover her mouth while yawning, Severus took her back up to the hall where their bedrooms were.  Pausing between the two doors, he held her for a long minute.  When she started to gently pull away at last toward her room, he seized her wrists and drew her back to his room.  As she hesitated, he whispered,

     "Why should it be any different here than from school?"

     Giving in, Lily allowed herself to be pulled into her boyfriend's bedroom.

     It was a lot like she expected, if she had any real idea in mind: a dark room, medium-sized, with a wooden desk and bookshelf.  On the far side of the queen-sized bed was a small nightstand with only three objects – a lamp, clock, and a framed picture of – her.  Lily felt herself blushing slightly as she remembered: near the end of the school year he had insisted on taking a photo of her, claiming he wanted it for his room while they were apart during the summer.  She was smiling, standing on a staircase, her left elbow resting on the rail, right hand clasping the fingers of the other.  Severus followed her gaze, and smiled again.  "I told you I was going to put it by my bed."

     Tossing her robe onto the chair indicated, she lay down beneath the sheets next to him.  He pulled her closer, draping his arm around her waist and brushing a strand of her hair off her face and behind her ear.  That was all.  Lily was thankful that he didn't implore her in his silent way to go farther – she didn't know if she had the willpower to refuse.

     So she lay there, comfortably numb, staring into Severus's dark eyes.  Unexpectedly, a clear thought surfaced in her slightly-conscious mind: _whoa, I'm lying in my boyfriend's bed with him in the middle of the night.  _The feeling accompanying this distinct thought was uncannily familiar: it reminded her of way back in the start of her fifth year, when he had first shown her the room on the sixth floor.  She felt now a lot like she did then, though more giddy, and without the worry.  Oh, if Nicki knew where she was now...but that was why she was here in the first place, because he didn't know, couldn't know.  The thought was both startling and depressing.  Her hand, which had been listlessly holding his, tightened its grip as her throat constricted painfully.  Severus pulled her to him, and Lily cried herself to sleep.

     When she woke up again, it was morning; she knew from the small clock hanging on the wall.  As she is prone to do upon her first moments of waking consciousness, she lay still, thinking about the night before and contemplating the dark-haired Slytherin beside her; then she jerked upright abruptly, rolled out of the bed, causing Severus to groan slightly and stir as she snatched up her robe as she hurried out of the room.  Just as she reached for the doorknob of her and her sisters' room, the door swung open, and Lily and Rose caught themselves a millisecond before they collided.  Startled, they paused a moment, looking into each others' identical green eyes.

     "Sorry," Lily muttered finally, gesturing vaguely behind her.  "I was in his room...." An unspoken question appeared in her sister's eyes; Lily said hastily, "No, of course not."

     "The night of her parents' funeral, Rose?  Honestly, I'm hurt.  I thought you knew I had more class than that." Severus was leaning against his own doorway, wrapped in his own dark robe.  Rose turned pink, but it was obvious – at least to Lily – he wasn't serious.  Raking a hand through his long hair, he added, "As soon as you're all dressed, go down to the second floor dining room, we'll eat breakfast there." As he was turning back into his room, he stopped a moment to say to the elder of them, "Oh, Lily, wear something with short sleeves."

     It wasn't until mid-morning that she found out why he had made such a request.  As Rose went off to write another letter in the library and Mary disappeared out into the courtyard, Severus motioned her up to where they had been the night before, the one corridor he had hesitated to bring her down, taking her to the dark, thick wooden door at the end of it – oddly enough, the doorknob was located in the middle of it, not to the side.  Severus turned it to the left and pushed the door open, and, taking her by the wrist, drew her inside.

     It took a minute for her eyes to adjust; then her first impression was that everything in the room was black – black walls, black carpets, all the furniture was that same shade of inky black.  No candles or any other kind of light – source was in the room.  She probably wouldn't have been able to see anything at all if it wasn't for the rectangular stain-glass windows at the opposite end of the room.  

     It seemed to be wholly made of tiny, jagged shards of glass all dipped in blood, such was the color.  Sunlight didn't filter through it; instead, she could the silhouette of a tall brazier full of energetic flames.  So the would-be dark room was thus filled with a sort of eerie, flickering blood light.  Lily took a moment to recover from the strange effect, and then turned to Severus, who was standing slightly behind her, watching her initial reaction.  Another effect of the dancing deep red flames struck her: they created such a pattern so it appeared that all across his crossed arms and face, every visible square centimeter of skin, was laced with blood, criss-crossing over and over again.  It was especially dramatic with his pale skin and black hair, the latter which seemed to have blood running through it.  After taking this analogy in, she finally spoke.  "I didn't know you read Edgar Allan Poe."

     Imparting the ghost of a smile – seemingly pleased at her knowledge and recognition of the scene – he walked idly across the room, to the tall, ebony grandfather's clock beside the black velvet sofa.  "For a Muggle, he's surprisingly intuitive.  I have his complete works in the back of the library – my uncle never knew of their existence, of course.  Before I went to Hogwarts, I was curious to see if it really was as ghastly as he made it out to sound, so I ordered the house-elves to build a replica of it.  Every single one of them, even Zephy, refused to re-enter it after the torch was lit.  Look at your arms," he added, nodding toward them.  Lily raised them from where they had hung unnoticed by her sides, and to her surprise saw they also had the appearance of being recently slashed.  Instinctively, she rubbed them, as though to brush off the red light.  Severus had opened the glass plate over the face of the clock, and was slowly moving the black minute hand around with one finger, until both hands pointed straight up at the engraving of the Roman numeral twelve.  Immediately twelve slow, solemn notes echoed out; the hair on the back of her neck actually stood up, and goose bumps ran down her arms.

     "Well, I guess that wasn't metaphoric either," Lily said, trying to distill the eerie silence following the last note.  He nodded, closing the glass and pulling her onto the sofa beside him.  "I wonder if anything was metaphoric in that story," she mused.

     "That main character, Prince Prospero, was."

     "True.  But was the Red Death?"

     Severus shrugged, tracing the flitting pattern of light down her arm.  "It's possible that it wasn't.  Especially in the wizarding realm."

     "How did he know, though," she continued, despite the increasing distraction, "what the effect is of that last red room and the clock was?  Do you think he had one built, too?"

     "I doubt it.  He didn't have that much money to experiment like that."

     Now it was _really_ distracting.  Lily was having trouble remembering what she had been about to say.  "Erm – he did have a very" -interrupted by a kiss- "good cause-and-effect imagination."

     "Yes, he did.  Now stop talking." A quickly smothered laugh, and the next several minutes were spent in a blur of hands, skin, and a flickering blood-red light.

     They were finally interrupted by a small knock at the door.  With a groan Severus stood and opened the heavy door halfway.  Lily caught a glimpse of Zephy outside right before he darted out of the way of the fire-light.

     "Zephy is sorry to disturb Master and the Miss Lily, but the Miss Rose has been receiving an owl, and she wishes to see the Miss Lily at once."

     "Rose is still in the library?" Lily inquired, having gotten up and standing behind Severus.

     "Yes, Miss Lily," the elf said, bobbing its head in affirmation, still stationed a good foot from the mystical light.  Wondering what the owl could have been about, she hurried back down to the library, Zephy leading and Severus following.

     They came upon Rose sitting motionless in one of the large armchairs in the back of the library, feet tucked under her, an unfolded letter in her hand.  She had stopped reading it; her eyes seemed to be fixed on some point beyond it.

     "Rose?"

     The fifteen-year-old started, glancing up, and Lily recognized an expression in her face of old: an obstinate faith, born in their earliest childhood, that the elder could remedy any situation, or at least find some good in it.  It was a belief she and Mary both shared and now had an inevitable tendency to unnerve her.  "Lily!  Look-" She leaned forward, extending the message.

     Slowly she took it, hesitant on reading what was understandably unfavorable news.  Unwilling as she was, her eyes ran across the lines:

_     To the Misses Lily, Rose, and Mary Evans:_

_              As previously stated in the letter delivered to you at the funeral ceremony yesterday, the Ministry of Magic – specifically, the Department of Underage Wizardry and related departments – have been conducting a prolonged search for your appropriate guardian until the youngest of you (Miss Mary Evans) becomes of age.  In this case, the appropriate guardian would be your biological father, Mr. William Williams.  Despite a difficult investigation, we are pleased to say that we have located him, and now we request you and your older sister's (who has also been notified and will be provided with transportation as she is a Muggle) presence at the Department of Underage Wizardry office J17 ("J Level Lobby" if you choose to travel by Floo powder) tomorrow at 2PM to discuss arrangements._

_     Sincerely,_

_Priscilla Verdicine_

     Suddenly Lily found herself sitting down on the sofa across from Rose, the letter being drawn out of her hand by Severus, and one meaningless refrain echoing over and over in her mind: _your father...your father....  _A father she didn't remember in the remotest way; a father the only thing she knew about was that he was an accountant who had abandoned all of them as infants.  An abandoning accountant.  Ha ha, so funny.

_     Her father???_

     No, her father was Nicki; her father was dead.  This man who claimed to be her father was just a blood tie, like a great-great uncle or a seventh cousin, and, and...he was going to take her away.  He was going to take her away from Severus, and Hogwarts, and her friends (Remus!) – he could live in Rwanda for all she knew.  And – this thought turned her blood to ice – what if he didn't want Mary with them?  He might just send her to an orphanage and keep the older three – she was hyperventilating now, eyes wide, her hand before her mouth.  Truth be told, Lily was conscious of how she had more or less neglected her youngest sister for the last few months, and had felt guilty.  Now that blame slapped her in the face all the harder.  She did love Mary, very, very much, and the thoughts of losing her were absolutely intolerable.

     "Lily.  Lily!"

     Her panicked thoughts were abruptly broken by the registering of her senses – Severus was gripping her hands painfully tight, his deep, concentrated eyes boring into hers.  His voice was authoritative, commanding her to listen:

     "Lily, listen to me.  He isn't going to take you away from me – no one in the universe can do that, Lily.  He can't take you out of Hogwarts; you know Professor Dumbledore will never allow that.  He can't and won't do anything to you or your sisters."

     "Mary-" It was a high squeak.

     "Mary isn't going anywhere; she's going to be with you.  He won't separate you, not for a moment.  I won't let them," -he hesitated, reluctant to say what he was about to say, but went on- "and your friends won't either.  You know it.  They'll each take him on one by one before he touches you."

     "He's right, Lily; you know the boys," Rose said quietly, standing next to him.

     "Calm down, Lily...breathe...it will be all right, but only if you keep breathing."

     Managing a weak smile, she leaned back, trying to take deep breaths.  Gradually her heartbeat slowed.  For the first time she noticed Zephy standing by the sofa end, offering up a glass of water to her, his large eyes filled with concern.  Accepting it, she brought it to her lips and closed her eyes as she sipped, smoothing out her thoughts.

     "Should I call Mary now, to tell her?" Rose asked, sitting down next to her.

     "No, not yet – give me a minute." Tilting her head back, she concentrated on relaxing again.  Okay – her father might be an abandoning accountant, but he was not a dictator.  That she knew.  One of the reasons she, Petunia, and Rose had been placed with Anetka and Nicki was because Anetka was pregnant, and apparently her father had figured that with the baby's birth they would become more of a part of the family.  Why, the entire fact he had gone to the trouble to research a good family to leave them and hadn't just dumped them in an orphanage, or driven up and down some streets in a strange city to fling them on some random doorstep spoke in his favor.  So he probably wasn't going to do something mad.  The more she thought about it, the more a sort of pity welled up in her for this man who had apparently tried to break off all contact with her.  Think about it – crushed after his wife's death, he had deposited his daughters into what he hoped and believed were good hands, and then tried to go somewhere to start over.  Now he was being unwilling dragged back to his tragic past that he had thought buried for good to deal with an issue that may never let him escape again.

     "Lily – it says that it mentioned a search for – him in those papers you got the other day," Rose said, rather hesitantly.  "Is – is that why you didn't want me to see them?"

     Startled, she opened her eyes to look at her.  "God, no, Rose!  Why would I hide something like that from you?  I didn't even understand what it was talking about when I read it.  Honestly, I didn't give you the papers because I really didn't want you to worry about it."

     "Oh.  Erm, thanks."

     Lily had to smile.  "Yeah...okay, someone get Mary." Severus gave Zephy a look that clearly said, "You, now." The elf darted out of the room and returned a few moments later with the dark-haired girl in tow.  She had hardly entered the little circle before Lily had leaped up and hugged her tightly, as though she hadn't seen her in two years.  Surprised by the sudden greeting, Mary endured it, then asked nervously,

     "Okay, what happened?  Was – there another attack?"

     "Oh, no, nothing like that-" Turning, she grabbed the letter off the table Severus had tossed it, and handed it to her.  "See...."

     Mary read it quickly.  Her expression didn't change, but her face and lips went pale.  "I see," she whispered, fumbling to fold it back up.

     Lily took her hands and stepped closer, forcing her to look her in the eye.  "Mary...they aren't separating us.  They aren't.  You're my sister and you're staying with me.  I'll do whatever it takes to keep you with me." A strange look of old comfort came into the younger's eyes – a look she had not seen for a long time.  Somehow, it was more of a reward than any words could be.

     Releasing her, Lily sat back down next to Rose, and Mary moved to the other side of her.  Severus had picked up the fallen letter and was now re-reading it, a slight frown creasing his forehead.  "Severus – I hate to keep running to you like this about everything," -he waved an untroubled, slightly impatient hand- "but I was wondering, what was your experience with all of this?  Didn't they ever track down your father?" questioned Lily.

     A faint, amused smile flickered across his face.  "A wizard is much more difficult to trace than a Muggle.  The Ministry gave the pretense of a search, but nothing ever turned up, of course.  Like I first told you, everything's left in Zephy's hands."

     "But – don't you have any idea what's going to happen, what the Ministry will do tomorrow?" asked Lily, feeling helpless.

     "I expect they'll talk with you, and him, and have you talk together to see how well it will work out, and make sure he'll be able to take care of all of you.  I'm sure if he shows any inclination of splitting any of you up, they won't let him take you," he reassured her.

     "And – it says they told Petunia, too," Rose broke in.  "I wonder what she's thinking about this...."

     Less than an hour later, Severus slowed down on Flaherty Lane as the girls with him scrutinized the houses on the left side.

     "We've only been there once or twice – Petunia only told Vernon that we were witches, and she was scared that if we all kept coming over his sister and parents would figure something out." Lily explained.

     "Isn't that it?" Mary asked, pointing to a box-like two-storey house.  Even from inside the car they could hear the dogs barking in the backyard.

     "I think so – probably – yes, it is.  That yapping settles it." One of the few things Petunia and Lily had in common was their general dislike for dogs.  

     Parking by the curb, Severus hesitated to get out until Lily motioned for him to join them going up to the house.  "You know I'm not – practiced in acting like a Muggle," he reminded her quietly as they stepped gingerly through the yard, which doubled as the dogs' giant restroom.  

     She shrugged.  "You don't have to talk.  Just be yourself and they'll classify you as the average punk boyfriend." Noticing his raised eyebrows, she flashed an "I – love – you – just – like – that" smile.

     Rose knocked on the door, and then nervously retreated a few steps, so that Lily was in front.  _So thoughtful of her,_ Lily thought dryly, but without any real ill will.  The Dursleys unsettled them all.

     Mrs. Dursley, a stocky woman with very short mouse-colored hair, opened the door a crack, eyed them all, then moved it halfway open.  "Hello, Lillian.  How may I help you?" No matter how many times Lily explained to her that her birth certificate clearly spelled out L-i-l-y, Mrs. Dursley insisted on addressing her as "Lillian."

     "We just wanted to see Petunia, Mrs. Dursley."

     Almost grudgingly she stepped aside, allowing the four to pass inside.  Against one wall a large girl that they almost mistook for Vernon sat in an armchair, eyes cemented to the TV screen.  In her lap was what looked like, at first glance, a loaf of bread that had many folds sagging down pathetically, but which later proved to be a bulldog.  She took no notice of them.  "And who is this young man?" questioned the girl's mother.

     "That's my boyfriend, Severus."

     "I'll wait here," he decided, planting himself two feet from the door.  Mrs. Dursley surveyed him, taking his hair and black attire, and pressed her lips together disapprovingly.

     "Vernon and his father have gone out to the office to work.  Petunia is upstairs, in the room she and Marjorie share – the one with the cute dogs painted all over the door."

     Lily experienced a sudden wave of pity as she saw for herself the above-described door.  Poor, poor Petunia.  She must be going out of her mind.

     In answer to their soft knock, their oldest sister opened the door.  She didn't look surprised to see them.  "I was wondering if you would come," she remarked as they filed into her room.

     For a moment the three visitors simply stared; then they glanced surreptiously at each other, exchanging looks that read "We should have known."

     Down the exact middle of the floor and up the far wall was a strip of wide, white tape.  On either side of that tape was a bed.  There the list of similarities ends.   On the right side of the tape there was, on every piece of furniture, every article of clothing lying about, and every square inch of the floor, extending three feet up the walls, a good, solid layer of dog hair.  There were also boxes of dog treats, dog bones, dog brushes, and other miscellaneous dog toys lying about.  No leashes, however.  The plain of hair on the floor stretched to the white tape, where it abruptly stopped.  Past the tape to the left side, where one learned the true color of the carpet, there was not a single hair to be found anywhere.  It was the very essence of neatness and order.  Another fact worth noting is that there was a large box in one corner containing rollers and rollers of sticky paper.

     It was worse than how she had been at home.  Evidently Petunia had been inspired.  

     The owner of the left side picked up a letter lying on her bed and handed it to Rose, who saw that it stated basically the same things theirs had, with an added note that a Ministry car would pick her up an hour before the time of meeting.

     She seemed strangely casual about it all, and Lily suspected it was an act to cover up nervousness.  "Petunia – are you sure you don't remember anything about him?"

     "Yes, I'm sure!  How many times do I have to tell you, my first memory is of Nicki holding me outside, while Anetka was still pregnant, but she was eating and rocking you," -nodding toward Rose- "and you, Lily, were crawling around, but you didn't know this big bee was following you because of your hair....  I kept hoping it would hurry up and sting you."

     Lily touched her hair uneasily, thinking of the curious attraction bees always had for her hair.  "Right...but the point is we know next to nothing about this man who is our father who we are going to meet tomorrow."

     Mary crossed her legs uncomfortably, feeling more out of place than ever.  The movement did not go unnoticed by her eldest sister.  "Hey, what are you going to do if he doesn't want her?"

     Placing a protective arm around the brunette's shoulders, Lily answered defiantly, "She's one of us, Petunia; separation is not an option." Mary couldn't help but smile.

     Shrugging carelessly, the blond idly moved in front of her mirror to evaluate herself.  "Whatever...so do these people of yours really care what happens to us?"

     "More or less – they _are_ responsible."

     "But I'm turning seventeen in a few weeks."

     "But we're not."

     "I still say it's pointless to drag him up here when he made it so clear he doesn't want anything to do with us."

     "Sixteen years is a long time, Petunia," Rose broke in.

     She stopped running her hands through her short hair – she recently got it cut to curl inward above her shoulders – and turned to face Mary, giving her a long, judging stare, as though seeing her for the first time.  "He's probably going to mistake you for me – you know my hair was dark until I turned about five."

     "I think you look like our mother," remarked Rose, frowning slightly, her head titled to one side.  "You have her hair and eyes."

     "Not her face," she corrected, and there was just the slightest trace of bitterness in her voice.  "That, you two got." 

     For once, neither Lily nor Rose could think of anything to say.  Mary tried not to smirk, though she had an undeniable right to, not to mention she lacked Lily's inborn, albeit weakening, sense of shame over things like that.

     The conversation struggled on halfheartedly but faltered.  Upon inquiry of how she was holding up, Petunia waved her hand toward the right side of the room in self-explanation.  So they took their leave and returned with Severus to the Ruins.

     They spent the rest of the day in nervous speculation, almost constantly wondering about the upcoming confrontation, sometimes to each other, sometimes silently.  Lily stayed in her own room that night; the next morning was very tense.  Dressed and ready, they waited restlessly downstairs.  Lily, Rose, and Mary kept passing their one photograph of the biological family back and forth.  Severus seemed preoccupied as well, lost in his own thoughts.

     After what seemed like several decades, he at last declared it was time to go at ten minutes to two.  Lining up at the fireplace – Severus first, Mary last – they each called out the destination and stepped into the green flames.

     "Level five, International Magical Office of Law" proved to be a wide, brightly lit room with quite a few wizards in robes bustling around.  On either side of the room there was a table with four elaborate chairs around it in a semicircle.  A current copy of the _Daily Prophet_ was centered in the exact middle of the tables.  Straight ahead from the fireplace a secretary sat in a large desk.  There were two passages on either side of the desk; both curved inwards.  The only actual doors were on the far sides of the passages, two on the left and two on the right, not including the door left of the fireplace they stepped out of.

     The secretary, a middle-aged, professional-looking but polite wizard looked up from some form he was filling out.  "And how may I help you?"

     Severus took up his place as spokesman, much to all of their relief.  "We were called here – these are the Evans minors.  Well, three of them – someone here is picking up the fourth."

    Frowning slightly, he started to flip through a file.  "Evans minors – oh, yes, of course, the Surrey Park attack." He suddenly looked up again at the girls, as though remember who he was talking to.  "A terrible tragedy, really." There was just the slightest chance of that being real sincerity in his tone.  Lily gave him the benefit of the doubt, and smiled sadly.  Rose granted a short nod.  Mary looked away.  When would the day be over....  "Yes, your sister should be here any second now.  When she is, Miss Priscilla Verdicine, the woman in charge of affairs like this, will lead you to a conference room where you will be given a brief summary of your father's" -all three contemplated clarifying, but decided against it- "circumstance, then he will be brought in, and we'll see how well you get along." Smiling optimistically, he gestured toward the chairs on the left.  "You may wait there.  Would any of you like something to drink?  No?  All right, then.  Oh, and sir-" Severus turned sharply upon being addressed, and the girls stopped too.  "If I may ask, how are you related to these girls?"

     "I'm only a friend – they're staying with me as of now."

     "Oh?  And what might be your name?"

     "Severus Snape."

     The wizard took a double take.  "Ah...yes, I remember your case.  They never found your father, did they?"

     He merely shook his head, lips pressed together, eyes flashing in a way Lily recognized as dangerous.

     "Most regrettable."

     "If you say so," he replied freezingly, swinging back around.

     Just as they had sat down, and Mary had begun fidgeting with the front page of the newspaper, the door next to the fireplace swung open suddenly, and a wizard, followed by a tall, green-eyed, scared-but-trying-not-to-show-it, blonde.  Her eyes latched on to her sisters almost immediately, and Lily could almost detect relief at the familiar sight amidst everything else.  Even though she seemed to want to join them, Petunia continued to trail after her escort aimlessly.

     The escort leaned on the desk and told the secretary something in a low voice.  The latter nodded and replied, "Yes, her sisters are already here – right there, in fact." Uninterested, he barely glanced at them before hurrying away down the left hallway.  The man behind the desk smiled at the stranded-looking blond, perhaps a bit condescendingly.  "Just sit right over there, Miss Evans."

     Gratefully Petunia took a chair next to Mary.  By the way her lips were pressed and her anxious manner, Lily guessed that she wanted to voice her opinion of the magical world, but was hesitant to do so in front of Severus.  Instead she flipped back her hair, repositioned her purse on her shoulder, and clasped her bony hands tightly on her lap.

     They didn't have to wait long.  Barely a minute had passed before the tall, formal brunette from the other day appeared at the doorway of the passage Petunia's driver had gone through, holding a sheaf of papers and looking particularly grim.  "The Evanses?" she called, resting her forearm up above her head against the doorframe.

     All four stood.  Lily suddenly became conscious of how sometime while she was sitting, her legs, all the way up to her lower rib cage, had apparently been emptied completely of their contents, and the only thing she aware of was the pounding of her heart, ostensibly echoing in the void.  Wondering if Rose and Mary felt the same way, she glanced back at them.  Evidently it was indeed mutual, judging by their chalky coloring.  Over them, she caught Severus's eye, who had to stay behind; he gave her the most encouraging look he was probably capable of giving.

     "I am Miss Priscilla Verdicine," their memorable representative informed them.  "A director of the Department of Underage Wizardry.  Please follow." Turning sharply, she briskly started down the curving hallway.  Impulsively, Lily took Rose and Mary's hands, squeezing them reassuringly.  A sudden flash of deja vu struck her, of back during their early years.  She shook it off, but a chill prickled down her spine nonetheless.  Things had changed so much...she glanced at Petunia, who had crossed her arms and was looking straight ahead.  

     Miss Verdicine pushed open a wooden door marked CONFERENCE.  It was empty of people – that was Lily's first observation.  Her second was of the room – octangular, dark, and windowless, which explains the second adjective.  A long, rectangular mahogany table ran horizontally down the room.  Deep blue chairs were positioned at both ends, and four on one long side, one on the other.  There was another closed door on the far wall.

     "Those four are for you," she said briefly, as they sat down, unconsciously in order of birth.  "Wait a moment here while I send for a couple of other officials who ought to be here." She shut the door, and they heard her high heels clicking away.  

     Rose was the first to move.  She sucked in her breath, and slowly exhaled, lowering her head to the table.  Mary rubbed her forehead, muttering, "This is insane...." Lily rubbed Rose's neck soothingly, but she was very tense herself.  Petunia burst into an angry tirade.

     "I can't believe this; this is so stupid – Lily, these people of yours are so nosy-"

     "Don't pick on her," the youngest said abruptly, eyes snapping open.  "These aren't 'her' people."

     "Fine, then they're all of yours.  One thing I know for certain, they sure as hell aren't mine.  I can't believe this – we're being forced to meet this man.  God, why can't they just leave us alone?  We can obviously take care of ourselves perfectly well, why do they have to shove this guy-"

     "Petunia," Rose said loudly, eyes screwed shut, forehead still against the mahogany, "he's our father." She pronounced each word slowly and clearly.

     "That's what I just can't stand!" Petunia suddenly shouted.  "That he _is_ our father!  How can he claim that?  He dumped us all off with people in an entirely different world, and how does he except us to adjust?  I had to grow up with parents and sisters who-" she broke off.  "No, I don't want anything to do with him.  Maybe I could have, when I was little, but not now.  What's done is done, it's irreparable.  I had my _parents."_

     All three of her sisters were staring at her now, as she brooded, empty of words but not of emotions, green eyes smoldering still as she stared across the table.  

     Lily finally sighed.  "You know what?  This reminds me of when I was little, how we all acted." It wasn't a complaint, merely an observation.  "Haven't you noticed?  It's almost like its back how it was, only some stuff is reversed now."

     There was a pause as they all considered this, then Rose spoke.  "I don't know...it's weird.  It's like I don't really care at all – I'm just curious.  I'd like to know why he left us when he did, but that's all."

     Mary was leaning forward on the table, arms crossed, her head resting sideways on them.  It was all too easy for Lily to read the conflicts in her eyes.  She just didn't want him messing up her life, her relationships with Lily and Rose.  Wishing he would just go away.

     Lily sighed again, brushing a small strand of hair away as she thought.  Finally, she slowly said, "You know, you have to wonder how _he_ feels, too."

     "What?" Petunia snapped, sitting up.

     "Really...think about it.  He lost his wife, gave his children up, and tried to start again...now he's being dragged back to the past."

     Her elder sister stared in sheer amazement, finally shaking her head.  "Only you, Lily."

     Glancing at her, the redhead added meaningfully, "He is _your _father."

     Jerking straight up, the blonde's eyes flashed as she caught the truth, but she could say nothing.  

     Lily leaned forward, as Mary was, resting her head on her arms so she looked right into her eyes, and closed her own.

     "Lily?  Are you tired?" asked Rose.

     "Yeah, I am...Just tired of everything.  I wish today was over." Opening her eyes once more, Lily stared into Mary's dark eyes.

     "So do I," the fifteen-year-old whispered, then added without thinking, "I want to go back to Hogwarts."

     Our main character slowly extended an arm to her, and Mary reached out to meet it.  The former grasped her hand, communicating she understood.  Yes, everything would be back to normal at Hogwarts, there refuge for five years.  Everything would be fine.  There wouldn't be anything to really remind them their parents were gone.

     "Oh, yes," Petunia said sarcastically.  "Just run back to Hogwarts, your little safe haven."

     "We'll do that," Rose snapped, "and why don't you go marry Vernon already.  That's your escape.

     "I'll do that," she shot back, an edge to her voice that only Lily knew what the source of it was.

     After that, no one spoke, a miserable sort of silence settling in.  Lily decided that the waiting – tedious, never-ending waiting-was what she hated the most.  Finally the sound of returning high heels, along with their owners' voice, became audible.  They all sat up straight as they heard the words.

     "...those problematic redheads again.  Lovely affair.  Always did say their tempers were fueled by their hair." Surprised, the problematic redheads looked at each other.  So they didn't like her, and she didn't like them.  Well, it was a working relationship.

     "But you did find the Muggle father, right?" a deep male voice asked.

     "Of course, but not after a good, long run for our money," a third, slightly younger voice replied.

     "I found it quite fitting that he is a redhead as well," remarked Miss Verdicine, with a sniff.  "But yes, he is here." The clicking had stopped – apparently they were talking just outside the door.

     "Will he give us any grief about this?" the deep voice questioned.

     "He did seem reluctant," she answered.  "Unwilling, if you will."

     "But he won't abandon them again, will he?" the third voice said anxiously.

     "I certainly hope not.  I'm tired of dealing with those troublesome girls." Priscilla Verdicine, of course.

     Door swinging inward, she walked in, followed by two men: one elderly, with graying hair and navy blue robes, the other middle-aged, with glasses and thinning brown hair, wearing burgundy robe and carrying a file.  The woman impatiently made the introduction.  "This is Mr. Lewock and Mr. Volse.   They have the files and order the procedures on these matters." Mr. Volse nodded gravely and sank into the chair at the head of the table as Mr. Lewock took the one at the other end.  Miss Verdicine backed up to stand against the wall, though she didn't leave, as Lily had hoped she would.

     The hollow feeling, which had lessened some while her sisters had argued, now returned full force, and once again all she was aware of was the loud beating drum in her ribs.  Surreptiously, she looked at her sisters' expressions.  Petunia was positively green; Rose was pale, yet expectant, lips slightly parted; and Mary appeared sullen, sitting back, arms crossed.

     Deliberately Mr. Volse drew out a pair of spectacles with a gold chain and carefully fit them on his face.  Folding his gnarled hands together, he looked intently across the table to his coworker, who seemed to be waiting for this signal to start.  Clearing his throat, he unfolded the file and spread out his papers.

     "Yes, well, to begin: Mr. Williams has been found and brought here.  As you may or may not know, he is actually aware of the magical community, though a Muggle." The correct answer was obviously "not" by the bewildered looks on the girls' faces.  How?  "Oh, yes, you see, he is actually a distant cousin of a magical family, though apparently that had no weight in his choice of your adoption.  But otherwise, this does make things much easier.

     "On other matters: Mr. Williams ahs been living in a flat in a small village in northern Wales for the past fifteen years, working as an accountant.  He has not remarried nor made any other important changes in his life.  He has a moderate income, and should he have to take in the four of you, he would, at least, be financially prepared, provided you continued your education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – and at your school, er, St.  Agatha's Academy," he added to Petunia.  Barely audible, she corrected,

     "St.  Agnes's."

     He hadn't heard.  "So now, we will bring him in in a few moments, and you may talk with him a bit, informing him on the various aspects of your lives.  Please, don't be hesitant to include parts of your life in the magical community.  It is essential that he adjust to this if he is to take you in." He waited for them to nod in acknowledgment of this, and then started to reorganize the papers, moving what looked like forms to be signed to the top.  Glancing up at the woman standing against the wall, he requested, "Miss Verdicine, would you kindly go and bring Mr. Williams in now?"

     "Certainly, Mr. Lewock." She exited through the hitherto untouched door on the far wall.

     Barely a minute later, the door opened, and she re-entered, followed by a Muggle man.  He was tall – Petunia's height – with gray hair, rather lax around the waistline.  He was wearing faded blue jeans and a plain gray cotton shirt.  He didn't seem to know what to do with his hands, or where to look; his hands were almost constantly twitching, from wringing themselves before his belly, then dropping to his sides, before crossing his arms, and twisting his hands again.  Upon his entrance, he looked up, straight at them, only once, before dropping his eyes to the floor.  After that, he would glance up very indirectly, usually just at Petunia or Mary, who were at the outer edges of their side of table.  Sitting nervously in the chair across from them, he continued to glance up at them in intervals.

     William Williams was back.

     After a moment, Mr. Lewock cleared his throat again significantly.  "Since so many years have elapsed since your last meeting, allow me to reintroduce you all to each other.  Mr. Williams, your firstborn and Muggle daughter, age sixteen, nearly seventeen: Petunia Marianna." He bravely looked up, right in her eyes, but something there seemed to hurt him, and he quickly looked back down at his hands.  "Your second eldest and witch, age sixteen, Lily Marie." A growing sense of compassion was all she was thinking of now, and as William daringly met her eyes, Lily smiled gently.  But this too seemed to make him flinch inwardly, and he dropped his gaze once more.  "And Rose Maria, your youngest and fifteen, soon to be sixteen, also a witch." For some reason he managed to keep eye contact with her the longest.  A number of emotions flitted across his face, but Rose's did not change.  She held none of Petunia's coldness, nor Lily's pity – just the same expectancy.  Waiting for something from him.  Finally, something flickered in his eyes, and he broke the hold, staring down at his lap.  "And this is your daughters' adopted sister – her name is Mary.  She is fifteen years old and a witch, as well." Seeming the least uncomfortable with her, he gave her a little nod; Mary's eyes flashed and narrowed in response.

     "Miss Petunia, Lily, and Rose: your father."

     All three had an immediate, instinctive urge to correct him, but they fought it down.  

     "Now, you may take as long as you need reacquainting yourselves with each other.  No need to go into details, however; just an outline: schools, friends, relationships, etc.  Mr. Volse, Miss Verdicine, and I would leave the room, but, however, we would like to observe how well you get along." As they continued to stare unresponsively at him, he added, "Of course it will be a little awkward at first, but that can't be helped.  Why don't you girls begin?" Mr. Lewock suggested, giving them a verbal nudge.  Mr. Williams hesitantly looked up at them.

     Lily felt, rather than saw, the other three turn to her.  Oh, great.  Wonderful.  "Erm – well-" She fumbled for a starting point.  "We, er, adapted pretty well with Anetka and Nicki.  They were great parents, really.  We couldn't have wished for better." William blinked and twitched.  Petunia, it appeared to Lily, wanted to make a remark, so she hurried on.  "We get on really well with Mary – well, Rose and I do.  We consider Mary to be as much of a sister as Petunia is.  And, erm, Petunia is more...independent.  She's happier by herself, I guess." She glanced uncertainly at her.

     "With my own kind," Petunia corrected under her breath.

     For the first time, William spoke, almost unwillingly, in a low voice.  "Are – are you two very close?" -indicating Lily and Rose.

     Surprised by the question, they both nodded, the elder answering, "Yes, very.  We're best friends, actually."

     A smile twitched itself in and out of existence on his face.  But he said nothing else, so she resumed, "We went to, er, Muggle schools until we were eleven.  We all did pretty well academically, top of our classes.  It was the summer before we would have started secondary school that Mary, Rose, and I met the boys who are now our best friends: Sirius, James, David, Remus, and Peter.  James and David are twins, actually, and all of them are, erm, wizards.  Well, we were all accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which is the best magic school in all of England.  Petunia's going to St.  Agnes's Academy for Young Ladies.  Er, we're all pretty happy where we are.  And Rose and Mary play Quidditch – a wizard sport."

     "We all have boyfriends, too, except Mary," Petunia said abruptly, speaking to the space between her lap and the table.  "I'm dating Vernon Dursley, a boy who's – like me – at my brother school.  Rose is going out with that 'best friend' of hers, David Potter.  All he does, it seems, is play around with his friends, but Nicki loved him to death.  Lily's dating a vampire," she added, as a minor fact of interest.

     "He is not!" Lily hissed, whirling on her rather than correcting it for William.

     "Well, he looks just like one."

     "But he is not!" Turning back to the man across from her, she clarified, "His name is Severus, Severus Snape, the boys have hated him for all eternity, but I don't care.  We've been together for nearly a year." She faintly smiled.

     It seemed to her that William desperately wanted to inquire further on this subject, but didn't feel he had the right, so he resumed his twitching and staring downward.  It made Lily pity him all the more as she concluded, "Anyway, Rose and I have two more years of school left before we graduate; Mary has three." She turned to Petunia.  "You have – one year left?"

     "Two."

     "Oh.  Well, I think that's about it..." Finished, she looked to Mr. Lewock, who seemed satisfied with their summary.

     "Very good, yes.  Mr. Williams, do you have any questions for them?"

     He hesitated.  "Well, yes, just one: who are you staying with now?"

     "Petunia's with the Dursleys, and Rose, Mary, and I are staying with Severus.  He's virtually an orphan, but he lives alone with his, er, servants."

     "It's a special circumstance," Miss Verdicine spoke up from the wall.

     Startled from the news that three of them had been living alone with a boy, William swallowed, evidently pushing back all protests, since he had no license to speak out.

     But Mary had no such qualms.  "I have one, too: if you take us in, where will we live?  Up in Wales, or down here?"

     He glanced at her in recognition.  "Erm, whatever works best, I suppose.  W-we would have to move regardless; my flat is hardly big enough to hold four girls.  How-however..." He stopped, as though reconsidering something, then rushed on.  "You shouldn't assume that you must, that it is inevitable, that you come with me.  I'm only the first, most obvious choice.  Is – there any other adult who you know, that you'd like to live with?  Someone who'll be able to take care of you, of course, while you're in school and afterward..."

     Lily was stunned.  So he _still_ didn't want them, and wasn't afraid to admit it.  Stealing a glance at Petunia, she saw her eyebrows were arched so highly they were in danger of disappearing in her hairline.  For a few moments they were silent, both with surprise and trying to think of someone who would fit the requirements.  But it was Rose who said the obvious answer.

     "Natalie." Four of them looked at her blankly.  The other two were amazed they hadn't thought of it sooner.  "I mean, Mrs. Potter.  David and James's mother." 

     Mr. Volse spoke.  "The Mrs. Joseph Potter?  Wife of the executive of the Department of Mysteries?" Lily nodded in confirmation.  

     Mr. Lewock cleared his throat in surprise.  "Well, there are certainly no financial questions there." 

     "Wait a minute," Petunia spoke up.  _"Who_ are we talking about?" 

     Rose sighed.  "You know, David and James's mum.  We've been to her house several times, she's really nice.  She was – there, yesterday." 

     "She's much better than Mrs. Dursley," Lily put in.  "At least she doesn't call me Lillian." 

     For the first time, William showed a clear show of interest, looking up.  "Your name is Lily – just Lily." 

     "Yeah, I know," she said softly.  "With just one 'l', too.  I hate Lillian." 

     A smile twitched once more.  "Your – your mother named all of you." 

     "She liked flowers, did she?" Rose asked dryly.  

     The smile increased.  "Yes...she had a big garden, though her favorites were lilies.  But she had petunias in the room when you" -nodding toward the eldest- "were born, and...roses were her second favorite.  White roses in particular.  I-" he stopped suddenly, his eyes clouding.  After a moment of deep, distant silence, he said quietly, "Yes, she loved flowers." 

     The Ministry officials allowed a respectful silence to pass, then Mr. Lewock coughed and resumed, "Yes, well, enough of Mrs. Potter is known to conclude she would be an able guardian; it is just a matter of consent on the parts of herself and Mr. Williams." 

     Looking anxious and troubled, William stammered, "I-I hardly know anything about her..." 

     "She's really, really nice," Rose said quickly.  "We've known her and her husband for about five years – yesterday she promised that she would do anything she could for us." 

     "Mrs. Potter is very well thought of in the wizarding circle," continued Mr. Lewock.  "Her husband has a very high, secure position at the Ministry, so the entire Potter family is quite well off." 

     "That is an understatement," contradicted Mr. Volse, slowly and gravely.  "The Potters are one of the wealthiest families in Britain." 

     Mr. Lewock had the grace to look embarrassed at being corrected by one of his elders.  "Er, yes, that is true, but nevertheless, Mrs. Potter is also reputed as a capable and loving mother.  Her sons have some of the highest marks in their year at school-" 

     "-only beaten by Lily," interjected Rose faithfully.  

     "-and are said to have excellent character, respected by their peers as well.  Their tendencies to be troublemakers should not be considered to be their mother's fault." Lily covered her mouth to hide a smile.  "All in all," finished Mr. Lewock, reshuffling the papers, "Natalie Potter is an excellent choice for-" 

     "Wait!" Rose said suddenly.  "If she does agree to it, would it still be, er, okay for David and me to date?" 

     Looking amused, he assured her, "Oh, yes, quite all right.  She won't be exactly adopting you, only becoming a foster parent – a guardian." 

     "Oh." She sat back, extremely relieved.

     "So, Mr. Williams, granted that that is a hardly adequate description for a decision of such consequence, would you like to have an interview with Mrs. Potter, or..." 

     William still looked troubled.  "Well, since she's so well known, and you all like her so much, I don't think that's necessary." 

     "There you are, then.  Well, we'll owl Mrs. Potter and arrange a later date on which to reconvene" -_what is this, Parliament?  _- "and finish signing everything." 

     "Actually, sir," Rose, broke in, looking like Lily felt: as though she desperately wanted to end this all today.  "I can go see her now, if it's all right, and tell her what's going on, and I'm sure she'll be happy to come back with me, right away, and do all the paperwork." 

     "Miss Evans, don't you think it would be better if we allow Mrs. Potter time to think it all through?" he questioned, smiling slightly, if a bit condescendingly.  

     "Sir, you must believe me when I say Mrs. Potter will be absolutely delighted to take us in." 

     Mr. Lewock glanced doubtfully, first at Mr. Volse, who merely raised his gray caterpillar-like eyebrows back at him, then at Miss Verdicine, who suddenly burst forth in a rush, as though she, too, wanted the deed done and buried, 

     "Well, Mr. Lewock, if she's so certain, don't try to dissuade her.  Come, Miss Evans, I'll show you to a Floo grate – you do know their Floo address, don't you?  Very well, right this way." She led Rose quickly out of the room.  

     Ten awkward minutes passed.  Mr. Lewock also withdrew, muttering something about a change in papers, but leaving Mr. Volse with several pages he was apparently supposed to read over.  William kept his gaze primarily downward, and Petunia, Lily, and Mary, occupied with their own thoughts, made no effort to make conversation with him.  

     So – Natalie was going to be their guardian.  Well, it could be much, much worse.  Better her than this nervous, hesitant stranger sitting across from her.  Anyway, she loved Natalie.  Lily had long considered her a second mother.  Living at her house – it would just be another home.  And she knew that Natalie wouldn't forbid her from writing or visiting Severus, despite knowing he hated her sons, and vice versa.  

     Mr. Lewock returned and began organizing his new files.  Not two minutes later, the door opened once more, and in rushed Miss Verdicine, Rose, and lastly Natalie Potter.  

     She had not changed much from when they first sighted her nearly five years ago.  Her hair was still long and black, though today the top part was pulled back into a braided bun – two parts hair, one part gold thread – at the back of her head, and the bottom half hung straight down.  Her amethyst earrings, bracelet, and ring matched her deep purple robes, of which the hem, neckline, and sleeves were edged with a thin gold line.  She smiled at once at the girls in the room, all of whom smiled back, if not one a bit uncertainly.  The men in the room all rose at her entrance.

     Miss Verdicine, with her usual businesslike air, made the introductions.  "Mrs. Potter, this is Mr. Volse, Mr. Lewock, who are Ministry officials, and Mr. Williams, who is the biological father of three of these girls.  Sirs, Mrs. Natalie Potter."

     She shook hands with all three.  "Mr. Volse, aren't you an associate of my husband's?  Yes, I thought so – how do you do, Mr. Lewock-" Natalie paused before William, and though her smile never wavered, something in her eyes, that could have been anything from a lack of respect to a profound indignation, flickered.  "Mr. Williams, I've known Lily, Rose, and Mary for years now, and I can honestly say they're the daughters I've always wanted." As he looked uncomfortable and muttered something indistinct, Mr. Lewock drew his wand and a chair slid out from a corner, where it had been hitherto invisible.  William started slightly.  Natalie accepted it, Mr. Lewock helping her into it on the same side as William sat.

     "Sorry it took so long," Rose apologized as she reclaimed her seat between Lily and Mary.  "It's the boys' fault – David, James, and Sirius.  They made me listen to their story of how they burned down their neighbor's bushes yesterday."

     "They did _what?"_ -Lily and Mary together.

     "They burned down their neighbor's bushes," repeated Rose, grinning in an amazed sort of way.  "It was an accident – they found a lighter by the side of the road, and none of them had grown up in a Muggle home, you know, so they didn't know what it was.  And Sirius was playing with it, and he accidentally turned it on, and he was so surprised he sort of threw it..."

     As Lily and Mary laughed, Natalie shook her head, half amused, half despairing.  "It was quite a show – smoke filling the sky as the row of bushes went up in flames, the three of them running around, shouting about little cases filled with fire...not that they were the least bit worried, oh no.  On the contrary, they were very excited – seemed to want to buy a dozen more, to take back to Hogwarts, they did.  Luckily the neighbors were out, so I was able to quickly regrow the hedges." She sighed, but was unable to keep from smiling.  "Their attitude changed, however, when my husband came home.  He had promised James and David a new car toward the end of the summer – if they proved they were responsible enough.  This didn't help their image...'How can I trust you with something as dangerous as a Muggle car, if you can't even handle a Muggle lighter'…."

     Though he seemed entertained, Mr. Lewock tried to steer them back on course.  "Yes, well, did Miss Evans here explain to you everything?"

     She nodded.  "The girls need a guardian, and I'm an option.  I'd love to."

     Surprised at her quick decision-making abilities, he looked to Mr. Volse, who questioned in his usual slow, grave manner, "Mrs. Potter, perhaps you would like to speak with Mr. Potter before signing anything?"

     "If it will make you feel better, I'll go ahead and write a note and have it delivered to his office," she laughed.  Given a piece of parchment, she wrote a few lines, folded it, wrote her husband's department and office, tapped it with her wand, and it zoomed off, sliding under the door.  Moments later it zipped back in, and she read the response aloud: " 'What, you thought I'd object?  It'll be wonderful to have the girls with us, even better for our sons – maybe they can teach them something about Muggle artifacts – i.e.  lighters.' " Setting it down, she gave Mr. Lewock a look that read perfectly, "Satisfied?"

     Abashed, he coughed and said conclusively, "Yes, well..." As he organized his papers for the final time, he asked conversationally, "Mrs. Potter, you truly care for these girls?"

     Natalie nodded firmly.  "Absolutely.  My younger son, David, is dating Rose here, and I've told him more than once if he ever leaves her, he's also leaving this house – I'm keeping Rose." She paused for the laughs, then continued, in a quieter tone, "But there's another, more serious reason, I suppose.  After the twins were born, during the routine checkup at St.  Mungo's, it was discovered that – Mr. Potter and I, together, had a genetic syndrome which meant that any daughters we had wouldn't live past six months.  Not even magic could cure it." She smiled, sadly and distantly.  "We agreed not to try to have any more children, just in case...we didn't want to put ourselves through that kind of trauma.  But we were surprised, when James and David were three, nearly four, to discover I was pregnant again.  So we decided to go ahead and have it – I couldn't stand the thought of abortion, even with all the easy techniques they had at the hospital.  I suppose we were hoping for a miracle...but Harrietta Elanor died two weeks after six months."

     "The boys – James and David – they've never mentioned any of this," Lily whispered, eyes wide.

     "No, they wouldn't," answered Natalie softly.  "They never want to talk about it – neither the syndrome nor Harrietta.  They do remember her – they were a little over five years old when she left us.  You'd be surprised at how ecstatic they were about having a baby sister, someone to protect.  It was very difficult for them to understand why she was gone."

     "Actually," Rose said slowly, "I think David almost started to tell me about it once, but he stopped."

     She nodded.  "The only person they've ever told the whole story to, I believe, is Sirius.  Not even Remus or Peter know."

     "Once-" Mary hesitated.  "Once, when I was at your house, I found a picture of them when they were little; they were holding a little baby, and I always wondered about it." Natalie didn't answer; her eyes were bright.

     Petunia suddenly spoke.  "I guess that makes it hard for you to understand how anyone could give up three baby girls, doesn't it?" William practically dissolved on the spot.  Lily shot her a look – she was being downright spiteful.

     Natalie avoided looking at anyone as she replied in a low voice, "Yes, it does."

     Almost gently, Mr. Lewock slid a paper to William.  "Yes, well – be so kind as to sign right there, Mr. Williams, saying you relinquish all rights; Mrs. Potter, do sign there, saying you accept all responsibility; Misses Evans, each of you sign on those four lines, saying you consent and acknowledge Mrs. Potter as your guardian...and Mr. Volse and I sign as witnesses."

     Then, very suddenly, it was over.  Mr. Lewock was collecting the forms, talking about owling copies as soon as they were properly registered, and Miss Verdicine was stepping forward to lead Mr. Williams out of the door and this story's sight.  But before crossing the threshold, he paused, turned back to face his daughters, and made the longest speech ever recorded in this biography.

     "I – I don't want to leave now you all thinking that I left you all those years ago without a second thought.  I didn't.  You – you can't imagine how it was before your mother died.  It was like everything I thought was my future was the three of you, raising you with Mary – we made so many plans, so many ideas.  But when she died, I felt like everything I thought was real – wasn't.  It's, it's not that I didn't love you anymore, I did, and that's why – you needed a mother, and a better father than I would have been.  And – I did regret it, a lot, but by then a few years had gone by, and I couldn't go and take you back then.  You wouldn't forget them this time.  Several times I was about to go, just to see you...but I couldn't, you had your family, and were better off not knowing...not remembering....

     "I just hoped you were happy, and it seems you were...so I hope I won't have to bother you again, and that you'll all be happy again, with whoever you marry, and whatever you do." With that, William disappeared out of their eyes and ours for the final time.

     Lily was surprised to realize her throat was tight.  The emotion must have shown on her face, for Petunia threw her a disgusted look.  Blinking rapidly, Lily looked down, trying to suppress her feelings.  Rose touched her shoulder as she stood, looking faintly disturbed.  The only change with Mary was that she looked a little less sullen, as though she had lost her motive.

     They all left the room, Mr. Volse and Mr. Lewock heading down the opposite direction from where the girls had come.  As they and Natalie remarked softly, "He's not so bad."

     Petunia seemed to feel that was directed to her, and said defensively, "I didn't know him."

     Natalie's glance was odd, but nevertheless kind, and her tone wasn't accusatory; instead, she sounded as though she were agreeing.  "No, you didn't." After a pause, she asked, "How did you girls get here?"

     "A Ministry car picked up Petunia – Severus took the rest of us here, by floo."

     She glanced at her.  "You're staying with him?"

     Lily nodded, rather hesitantly, but Natalie made no comment upon this.  "And Petunia, dear, who are you with?"

     "My boyfriend – Vernon Dursley and his family."

_     Well, thank you, Petunia, for throwing it out in the open that Severus doesn't have a family to watch us._

     But Natalie didn't mention that either.  "Did Severus leave, or is he still waiting here for you?"

     "He's still waiting."

     "Do you think it would be all right if I had a quick talk with him?"

     "Er, sure," said Lily slowly.  "We can wait over-"

     But Natalie laughed.  "No, I didn't mean privately.  I only wanted to talk about arrangements."

     Coming into the lobby, they saw Severus sitting in the same spot as he had been, but leaning over the now-open newspaper.  He quickly looked up as they appeared, but didn't seem to recognize Natalie as she walked right up to him and held out her hand.

     "Hello, Severus.  We've never been introduced, have we, but my sons and you seem to – a hem – be acquainted." The sparkle in her eyes let him know she knew it was more than that.  "I'm Natalie Potter."

     Shocked, he didn't move until he saw Lily's expression clearly pleading, "Be _nice." _Then he tentatively shook her hand as Lily explained significantly, "Natalie's our guardian now – she took the place of our, erm, biological father."

     "I see." Severus moved over to make room for her, Rose, and Mary.  Natalie and Petunia took the chairs opposite of each other.

     Natalie continued, leaning forward toward him, "Just to get it out of the way, Severus, I'll let you know that the fact that my sons don't like you doesn't affect my opinion of you.  If I was prejudiced against everyone who didn't like them, I would be on bad terms with half of Diagon Alley, a good part of the shop owners of Hogsmeade, nearly all of the Hogwarts staff, and everyone who lives around us in a mile radius.  Besides, Lily likes you....  That's good enough for me."  Thawed some by this conclusion, not to mention the compliment to Lily, Severus nodded his gratitude.  "Now, down to business," she went on briskly.  "Petunia, I'm afraid all I know of you is that you're the eldest.  May I ask when your birthday is?"

     "August 7th.  I'll be 17."

     "Oh, that's soon, isn't it?  I suppose you'll want to stay where you are until then...personally, I would love to have you come with me – do you think there's any chance of that?  But wherever you'd feel the most comfortable, dear..."

     "Oh – er," Petunia stammered, looking completely taken aback by the suggestion.

     "Here's your chance, Petunia," Lily pointed out.  "Do you want to escape from Marjorie or not?"

     "Well – er-" She was twisting a strand of hair now, a nervous habit, and her eyes flickered from the moving picture on the newspaper, showing a group of solemn Auroras being given medals, to Natalie's robes.

     "Oh, for crying out loud, stop acting like you've never been in a wizard's house before," Mary snapped.  "You were raised in one."

     Natalie quickly picked up on this.  "And I can make sure my sons and their friends won't bother you.  All we have to do is remind them that their car hangs in the balance, and Sirius wants that car, too.  Oh, and I'll be glad to drive you to your friends' houses whenever you like."

     Still, she was uncertain.  "I – I don't know – are you three coming, too?"

     Simultaneously, they turned to Natalie.

     "Oh, I wish you would, of course, but you can make your own decision.  I won't stop you from staying with Severus until the school year begins." She smiled at him again.  "But at the very least you can drop by once a week to see us."   

     In the end, they decided that Lily, Rose, and Mary would stay with Severus five days of the week, Monday through Friday, then spend weekends with the Potters and Petunia, who finally agreed to move in at least until she finished school.  Her escort had returned as they established the terms, and now stepped forward to take her back to the Dursleys.  Natalie promised to go home to get her car and drive straight over to the Muggle house – Petunia gave the address and general area – to help her pack and take her back to her new, temporary home.

     Once the other four were back at the Ruins, Severus pulled Lily aside to talk.

     "See?  She isn't so bad."

     "I suppose not.  But tell me, what was he like?"

     "Oh, you mean – him?  Well...he wasn't so bad, either.  Very shy and nervous.  I think he thought he wasn't allowed to have anything to do with us."

     "Was he so glad, then, to get someone else to take his place as guardian?"

     "Yes...but he did seem to care.  He let Natalie do it because he really thought we'd be happier with her."

     He studied her face.  "Are you glad that you will never see him again?"

     Pausing, she replied slowly, "There's no loss.  I don't regret meeting him, but I won't miss him."

     He kissed her on the forehead.  "Good."

     Later, seeking out Mary as Lily found a book in his library, he found her restlessly pacing a room of which one side was filled with jars and phials, the majority holding dozens and dozens of different kinds of bloods and other bodily fluids of what she hoped were animals.  Every now and then she would stop, pick one up, and look at it as though she wanted to fling it against the wall for no particular reason other than to hear the satisfying _crash_ as it shattered.  Then she would quickly set it back, her hands shaking just a bit from the strong temptation.

     "By the way, I've been meaning to thank you."

     Mary whirled about, the guilt of her thoughts of sabotage written across her face.  "For what?"

     "For your obvious choice to let my house team have an advantage against yours, of course."

     Now she was puzzled.  "What do you mean?"

     "Well, you haven't touched your broomstick once since you came here, and since you obviously couldn't have practiced back in that Muggle neighborhood around your home..."

     "Oh...well, I'll probably practice with the boys when I go over there." She shrugged.

     "Hmm.  Why not now?"

     "Well – there's no one to play with.  Rose is writing a letter, and Lily loves to fly, but she hates every position."

     "Yes, I know.  But why not me?"

     This stumped her.  "Oh – erm – you play Quidditch?"

     "Reserve Seeker.  It'll be practice for us both.  Hit the Bludger toward me, I dodge."

     "Okay...I guess so."

     It was _exactly _what her subconscious had wanted to do, and what Severus had guessed: fly around, far off the ground, while swinging her club as hard as she could against a Bludger toward her ex-enemy, even though her feelings of dislike had diminished somewhat.  In a few minutes Mary was in the best of humors.

_     Crack!  _The Bludger zoomed toward the area right over his shoulder; he dove neatly.

     "You know the only reason I'm missing is because Lily loves you, right?" she called to him cheerfully.

     "Of course," he replied, just as unconcernedly.

     That weekend, upon arriving at the Potters, they found Petunia soundly established there, seeming much happier than she had been with her boyfriend.  Natalie had given her a very clean, good-sized, surprisingly Muggle-like room with two windows – one opening to the spacious yard, the other to the indoor Quidditch arena, should she want to watch them practice.

     James, David, and Sirius were delighted to see them.  Eagerly they told them about a map they were planning to make of Hogwarts, showing every corridor on every floor, even the secret ones, and all the passwords.  Of course, it would take more than a bit of work, they admitted, but it _could _be done.  They pressed the girls for details about Snape's house, and the twins were outraged when even Rose and Mary admitted his was bigger than their house.

     "It doesn't mean he has more money," Rose consoled them.  "Just his house is older, was built so long ago."

     "He doesn't have an indoor Quidditch pitch," Lily added.

     David brightened.  "He doesn't?"

     "No, just an outdoor one."

     "But he doesn't have a pool, does he?" Sirius asked quickly.

     "Sorry."

     "Damn!"

     Petunia's birthday slipped by very quietly, at her own request.  Her sisters dropped by, gave her her gifts, and wished her a happy birthday, to which she gave them a very sarcastic look.

     Toward the end of August, Severus took them out to Diagon Alley for school supplies on the same day as the Marauders went, though he didn't know it.  From the start Severus insisted on paying for all of Lily, Rose, and Mary's things.  There was a note about dress robes on the supply list, though it also mentioned a new store opening in Hogsmeade that promised to have everything they needed, should they want to buy them later in the year.  They decided to wait.

     Later, when they "accidentally" met up with the boys, both Natalie and David tried to argue with Severus about letting them pay instead, but he refused, to the first with polite insisting, and the second with point-blank refusing to negotiate.  He actually held his hands behind his back, something he normally regarded as recklessly stupid around a Potter or Black, as David thrust a sack of gold for Rose's supplies at him.

     On the last weekend before they had to return to Hogwarts, all five of the boys came over to see Joseph Potter dutifully hand the keys of a new car over to his sons.  It was a very nice dark blue with a personalized license plate: MARUDR5.  James claimed it was actually a gift to all of them, but it would dwell in the Potters' garage while they were at school.

     But Sirius wasn't as pleased as the others with it.

     "It's not what I thought it would be like," he said, shrugging, after having taken his turn driving around the block.

     "Too good for Muggle transportation, Padfoot?" questioned Remus, who was carefully centering a Gryffindor emblem sticker, made personally by Natalie, onto the back windshield.

     "I know _I'm_ not," David said fervently, lying sprawled over the hood, cheek pressed to the cool metal.

     "No, not like that," Sirius said, shaking his head.  "I like how – how _free_ it felt, you know, knowing there weren't any magical charms on it-"

     "Not yet, anyway," James muttered, his arms crossed on the roof as he stood in the car, his head and shoulders through the sunroof.  "I'm dreading leaving Dad alone with it."

     "-or just because you had to use your head to stay on the road, and not, say, let your foot slip as-"

     "Sirius, you just like it because it's dangerous," said Lily dryly.

     "Maybe," he said evasively.

     David looked up.  "Rose, I must ask you to never ride in the car while Sirius is driving."

     "Only for you."

     "I guess I thought it would be more like riding a broomstick, only more – horizontal," Sirius continued, undistracted.

     "I like it more than a broom," Peter voiced from where he was lounging in the passenger seat.

     " 'Cos it has a wider seat?" James grinned.

     "If only it were more open," Sirius mused.  "Say, no top, or doors..."

     "Like Severus's sports car?" Lily asked rhetorically, knowing quite well what the reaction would be.

     Sirius paused in his musing just long enough to look disgusted.  "No, no, smaller, more compact, something you could hide more easily, or fit into narrower places...or use it to get away..."

     "Ah, he's already planning his escape from the authorities."

     "Stuff it, Moony, I'm not going to prison-"

     "No, of course not, you're too smart to get caught."

     "Exactly, thank you, Prongs, though I am well aware you're only trying to suck up so I'll take you with me when your own time comes.  But what I'm trying to describe-"

     "-is a motorcycle!" Mary exploded.  "Honestly, are you so Muggle-illiterate?"

     Sirius was delighted.  "Yes!  Exactly!  Mary, I'd kiss you if I didn't think you'd deprive me of my child-bearing abilities in the attempt – but with no reflection on that sobering fact, I believe I must say goodbye for now."

     "Why?" asked James, looking amused.

     "Must go home and drop hints around Mum about graduation presents and motorcycles.  Lil, you are prefect again this year, right?  Of course – well, I'll see you lot at your compartment."


	16. Book Seven Relationships Develop and an

**Book Seven – Relationships Develop and an Astonishing Act**

_**Part One**_

The morning of September 1st opened under an overcast sky upon the house-elves scurrying around with the four packed trunks and plates of crumpets, sausage, and eggs. Zephy came with them in Severus's car so he could bring the car back to the Ruins.

Lily did her best not to think as they pulled up at Kings Cross Station and slipped through the barrier; she tried not to notice the other parents hugging and crying over their children as they left, either for the first or last time. But even on the train, other students shot them pitying looks – others even spoke: "Hey, I heard about your parents, I'm really sorry," or "Are you okay?"

"Perfectly," Lily hissed under her breath, as the third of the latter kind came their way. "Why in the word _wouldn't_ we be?" Rose glanced, worried, at her strained sister, but the disappointment of finding that Hogwarts would not letting them forget what happened was very great.

Rose and Mary went up toward the front of the train where Lily's prefect compartment was reserved and the boys – all five of them – were undoubtedly waiting. Lily chose to find a separate compartment with Severus- "I don't feel like putting up with their insipid jokes and jabbering," which actually made him laugh, though probably just because he was surprised and pleased about her new, though most likely temporary, opinion of the Marauders.

"I'm tired," she protested, automatically defending them after the slip-up of loyalty. "I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Really." His sharp eyes gave her a quick, searching look that went unnoticed on her part as they moved into a compartment.

"Yeah. Dreams. Kept waking up at odd hours, then couldn't go back to sleep."

"Just dreams?" he asked quizzically.

Lily knew where this was going. "More or less. They're supposed to be happy, but – aren't when I wake up."

He settled against the window, still studying her. "Go on."

She sighed. They hadn't talked about it much; she preferred to think about it as little as possible. "They're mostly memories. Vacations we took, things like that. Then – he – our real father appears, looking sad as he watches us together, but I'm the only one who notices him. He keeps saying to me, 'Be happy, be happy, don't look at me,' but when I turn around Anetka and Nicki are gone, and at first I look all through Hogwarts, then I go home, but Petunia's the only one there, and she just keep crying and crying, then I go to your house, and I'm looking through your halls at night, and right as I start to open this one last door, I wake up." Her voice shook ever so slightly at the end. No, she was so sick of crying...think of something else, anything – double numbers! 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1,024, 2,028, 4,056....

It worked. She was able to calmly blow out her breath against the window and meet his eyes.

"Do you think your parents are behind the door?" Severus asked quietly.

She shrugged. "Probably. But I think someone else is there, too...I don't know who." She didn't add that, right when she touched the doorknob, she suddenly knew that beyond it would be the Potters' house – or maybe just someone from there. She never got past touching the doorknob.

Pulling her across to the seat next to him, he wrapped his arms around her stomach. "They're just dreams, Lily. You're expected to have them. But the less you think about it, the more likely it is you won't dream it again."

A few raindrops splashed against the window. The sky had been growing increasingly dark, and now it was casting rain down as the train swept through the country, bearing hundreds of witches and wizards-in-training toward another nine months of schooling. Now the raindrops were keeping up a steady rhythm against the windowpane. Lily slid down across the seat to pillow her head against his leg, watching the drops slide down as his hands ran over her hair, across her arms and down her back, until finally her eyelids closed and her breathing evened. This time her sleep was dreamless.

That night, after the Sorting, Dumbledore mentioned in his speech how the attacks led by Lord Voldemort were coming closer and closer to their own worlds. Lily, Rose, and Mary tried to overlook how two-thirds of the eyes in the Great Hall turned to them.

An hour later, Lily lay in bed, everyone asleep in her dorm but her. It was still raining just as heavily. First night of her sixth year. Restlessly, she rolled over, kicking her sheet off. It was no use. Sitting up, she hit her pillow against the headboard a couple of times, and then lay back down. Then she realized that there wouldn't be any owls this year, telling them about Petunia's attempts at cooking, or some odd happening at Nicki's job – and she wouldn't be able to tell Anetka and Nicki about how she and Rose did so well in their exam, or how the evil Professor Harskere gave Sirius detention for just _looking _at Severus.... With a groan she rolled over onto her stomach, burying her face in her newly fluffed pillow.

"Lily?" The whisper came from the bed to her left.

"I'm fine, Rose. Go back to sleep. Just because I can't doesn't mean you shouldn't."

"Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yes. Really." She heard Rose ease back down on the mattress. Closing her eyes, she tried to remember the trance Anetka had taught them all so long ago, to use in recalling memories or dreams. She had also said that if you didn't concentrate all the way, it could help you go to sleep at night. So Lily forced herself to relax, picturing a soft, dry cloud slowly enveloping her, starting from her toes, going all the way up over her head, each body part freezing in that position as the cloud moved over it. Now the cloud was taking her to a place where there was sleep....

It worked, but towards dawn she woke suddenly, having touched the doorknob again.

Rose's sixteenth birthday passed nearly as mildly as Petunia's had. Though Natalie did send greetings and a very pretty ivory comb with golden rose and emerald petals at its base, the absence of their own parents' owls and gifts were felt, as Lily had foreseen.

Ten mornings later, Lily sat nervously in the Great Hall as her friends and sisters cheerfully attacked their breakfast around her. It was September 19th – her and Severus's anniversary. But she had no idea whether or not he would recognize it. She had gotten something – Mary had helped pick it out in Diagon Alley as Natalie detained him. Well, if he said nothing today, she could give it to him for Christmas.

He wasn't in the Great Hall yet – she had been glancing over at the Slytherin table every few minutes. Since it was Sunday, most of the students were taking their time eating and talking. Biting her lip in anxiety, she traced the outline of her own present in her robes' pocket.

Sitting across from her, James was in the middle of unconcernedly devouring his eggs when he suddenly froze with his fork an inch from his mouth, having caught sight of Snape, silently approaching their table from the other side, behind Lily. Snape, noticing his suspicious stare, tried to find a neutral ground by gesturing to the unaware redhead before him, then touching his lips, as though asking him not to say anything. James understood perfectly, and disobligingly immediately tried to swallow his mouthful of food so he could talk properly.

"Lily," he said quickly, "there's-"

But Snape had quickly leapt forward, dropping the necklace he had been holding around her neck and fastening it.

Puzzled, she first looked down at what had passed before her face, then around at him, then back down at the necklace. It was a silver chain, holding a heart made of the same metal, but all except the outer edge of the heart was indented and seemed to be almost completely filled with some kind of green liquid, held inside the heart by some invisible force. As Lily held it up, the green liquid shifted this way and that as she titled it accordingly. Severus reached down and turned it over, so she could see the back – it had an inscription in flowing cursive:

_To Lily M. Evans_

_From Severus Snape_

_On Our First Anniversary_

_Long Live Us!_

"Rather melodramatic, don't you think?" he said disdainfully. "But they only let me choose the names-" He was interrupted, and nearly knocked back, as she sprang up and hugged him fiercely around the neck.

"Come on," she said, taking him by the arm and pulling him out of the Great Hall.

The quick departure seemed to leave a damper on the air. The seven friends were silent, and then Peter asked,

"What did it say on the back, Rose?"

She told them, hesitated, then added almost spitefully, "And didn't you say something last year about them lasting only a week?"

"Shut up," Sirius muttered sulkily. David stopped pushing his strawberry around long enough to pull out his wand and transfigure Sirius's silverware into a Raporius Tanter, a type of savage plant that looked exactly like a rope, once used in magical hangings – it immediately launched itself around his wrists, tightening and squeezing as much as it could, so he was in danger of having his circulation cut off.

"A year," Remus said slowly, stirring his cereal meditatively, as Sirius struggled to get his wand to curse the plant off, but they didn't seem to want to let him do that. "An entire year it's been...."

"Yep," said Rose cheerfully. The Raporius Tanter finally shot off Sirius's arms and into a large bowl of peaches, due to his managing to grasp his wand. As they started to crush the peaches, wrapping around and around them, Mary made a listless gesture over them and murmured something under her breath. They stiffened, and then slowly reverted back to harmless spoons.

"What the hell do they _see_ in each other, anyway?" wondered Peter, resting his thick elbow on the table.

"Lily _is_ pretty," pointed out Remus matter-of-factly.

James stabbed his egg morosely, forcing the yolk to spill out all over his plate.

"But what does she see in _him?" _demanded Sirius, truly baffled, rubbing his forearm and examining the bright red lines imprinted on them.

Mary sighed. "He really isn't that bad, you lot."

All five stared at the girl who had once hated Snape as much as they did.

She half-laughed at their faces, reaching for another piece of toast as she insisted, "Really! It just depends on whether he likes you or not." After a moment of contemplation, she added, "Okay, so maybe his morals are a bit off, and his interests are more than a bit questionable, and of course we know that when he hates you, he _really_ hates you. But when he actually likes someone...he's willing to do a lot – go through a lot – for that person."

The boys stared at her just as blankly. Sirius reached over and pressed his palm against her forehead. She swatted him away, irritated. "I'm not Lily – in love with him. I'm just saying he does have some more humane qualities."

"Which don't include an innate sense of bodily cleanliness," David added. "Just look at his hair."

"Lily likes his hair," Mary defended. "But, anyway, I've had a year to think about it, and I've realized it really won't kill me if they don't – break up anytime soon."

That last hinted concept struck the boys as extremely discouraging, and they had no response. Rose was lifting her fork up when something seemed to occur to her; the fork slipped from her fingers, and her hand made a little involuntary jerk upwards, then she clasped both hands underneath the table.

"What?" asked David.

"Nothing – I just thought of something."

"What?" James, this time, pressed.

"Well – okay, I know this is completely ridiculous to even think about now, but – I was just thinking, what if" -she was rather red in the face now- "a couple of years from now, David and I are married, and – Lily and him are, too – well, then, he and you two would be brothers-in-law."

The twins looked absolutely horrified, but Mary burst into laughter, and Remus looked like he was having trouble containing a grin.

"That's not funny," James said to Mary, shaking his head, looking aghast. "God, Rose, that's positively disturbing."

"I know," she admitted unhappily. "Mary and I'll be his sisters-in-law, too."

Mary stopped laughing. While she didn't look as appalled as James and David, she was shocked enough to wipe the grin off her face. "Wow," she breathed, fascinated by the concept. "Petunia, too...I wonder what she'd say...."

Severus was examining Lily's gift to him – a silver ring, wrought in the shape of a coiled snake. Its eyes were made of some shiny black stone – perhaps mica. There was an intricate pattern down its back, lined too in black. Bought in a magical shop, when he took it off it uncoiled into a very small, two-inch long silver snake.

"So you like it? Mary's the one that found it...she thought you would."

Unwound, the snake weaved through his bony fingers, hissing softly, finally coiling around his middle finger. "I think you both have nice taste."

Laughing, Lily hugged him.

"I won't be able to wear it in Potions – or Herbology."

She considered this. "Yeah, I suppose so." Smiling, she touched her necklace again. "I'll never take this off."

Professor Middleton had smugly paired them together again in his class, but there were almost no other Gryffindor-Slytherin teams. And as the weeks passed, Lily noticed something was different in all of the classes they shared with the attitudes of Severus's housemates. Last year they had seemed vaguely disapproving, but mostly indifferent to them. Now, however, it appeared they were taking the persistence of the relationship as a personal insult. Lily was aware of their scowls in class after she and Severus finished their assignment, as they always did, first. And they always seemed to find an excuse to walk past their table, either jostling her, causing her knife to slip or make a mistake pouring an ingredient, or they would whisper something she often didn't catch, but Severus always seemed to understand, and his reaction told her it hadn't been a compliment. Once, he had actually started to get up, but she had touched his arm restrainingly, whispering, "Please, Severus, I don't want you expelled." He had sat back down, but later told her he wouldn't be able to meet her that night. He never would tell her what it was his classmates had said, or what they meant – merely that he would deal with it, and on such nights he would always be at his House. Lily tried not to imagine what his way was of dealing with it, but whatever it was, it was effective, for the same person never spoke to them twice. But the glares and accidents continued.

Once, on her way back to the castle from Herbology, she saw three or four Slytherins in a semicircle around someone cornered against the wall. Lily froze upon catching a glimpse of the person's face – Severus. Though worried – it didn't look like a friendly meeting – she hesitated upon approaching. It didn't look like something she either should or could interfere with. Anxiously, she stood several feet away, watching the intense, low conversation, until suddenly Severus raised his wand – he had already had it out – and whipped it around the semicircle, a pale blue flame shooting out at each of them. Simultaneously they stumbled back, catching their chests. He immediately strode past them to the castle doors, not even glancing at her, but she heard him hiss under his breath, "Get inside." Not daring to disobey, she followed, but looked back to see them still holding their chests or throats, apparently unable to draw breath; finally, they started coughing, gasping as though they had been underwater, glaring after him.

Then, one day, she learned for herself what it was all about.

It was a Friday – the second in October. Lily had to go after dinner to the library to pick up some books for her homework and Severus's – she was to meet him that night. She was wandering down an aisle, looking for a book on the history of Arithmancy, when a voice addressed her.

"Evans."

Looking up, she saw three Slytherin boys – two sixth years and one seventh standing, arms crossed, by the bookshelf behind her. Immediately she silently cursed her stupidity in not letting Remus come with her to help, as he had offered. Somehow, she didn't think they wanted her to tutor them.

"What do you want?" she asked coldly, setting her books down on a shelf and brushing her pocket to make sure she had her wand.

"A little common sense out of you, _Mudblood,_" one of the sixth years – she recognized him as Bulstrode – said, drawing himself up and stepping forward.

Lily started. The insult, of course, was serious, and if the boys or Severus heard about it – but what she found more alarming was his knowledge that she was Muggle-born. That wasn't well known among the students. Then again, she suddenly remembered the same boy had called her that last year, too – but she had been too distracted by Severus's reaction to do anything about it. Now, however, there was no distraction.

"Excuse you? My parents were a witch and a wizard," she retorted.

Dolohov – a seventh year – gave a short, humorless laugh. "Don't play games with us, girl. We know those weren't your real parents."

Obviously he was speaking the truth – which left the fact that she had been severely insulted out in the open. She gritted her teeth, feeling helpless, unwilling to retaliate. "What is your point?"

"Quite simple, really. Common sense to apparently everyone except your kind." The last two words were saturated with contempt. "You've had your fun – enjoyed it, I daresay, though that itself was surprising. But it's time to end."

Lily glared at him, her heart beating twice as fast as normal and trying not to show it. "Who appointed you God over Severus's and my relationship? Why is it any of your concern?"

Dolohov shook his head, plainly disgusted at her stupidity. "Evans, surely you didn't think it would last? It's a miracle you've gone this far. But now your lover has other duties in which you'd be nothing more than a hindrance, and we can't allow hindrances."

It was a threat. She took a deep breath. "I believe that if there was a problem, Severus would tell me himself and not have others do it for him. As it is, I don't see a single reason why I should take anything any of you say seriously."

An ugly look on his face, Bulstrode took a step toward her, starting, "You little-"but Dolohov caught him across the chest, stopping him, and moved forward himself, his eyes narrowed in contempt and anger. She kept eye contact stonily, forced, however, to look up as he grew very close and said in a soft, dangerous whisper,

"Really, Mudblood? Well, it's my belief that you will soon have some good reasons to break it off." He paused a moment, letting the words hang ominously, before continuing, "Be as clever as you claim to be, Evans. What, other than an interest in books, do you two have in common? Surely noble Gryffindors such as yourself know that some sort of mutual foundation is necessary – lust will only take you so far."

"It's not _lust,"_ she said before she could stop herself.

"Then it's pure, true love, is it?" She knew better than to nod at his sarcastic tone. "Evans, there are more differences than you're aware of. We have different expectations – even Snape will admit it to you, go ask him. Different lives – from childhoods to adulthoods. Don't be so naïve as to think that you're a special case, that you can tie it together. It isn't going to happen. My advice to you is that you stop before you're forced to and get hurt in the process." Abruptly he turned and walked away, followed by Bulstrode and the third silent Slytherin.

When they were out of sight, Lily slumped against the bookshelf, closing her eyes, thinking that that was possibly the most unsettling conversation she had ever had. Gathering the books she had set down, she kept her wand out until she was inside the room on the sixth floor.

"Finally," Severus commented, not taking his eyes off the textbook he had on the table. But when she didn't answer, he glanced up at her face and immediately straightened, frowning. "What is it?"

"Nothing," she lied, setting down her bag and not meeting his eyes.

"Do _not_ play that game with me, Lily," he said sharply; it was so reminiscent of Dolohov's words that she started slightly. He stood and came around to where she was. "I know when you're lying to me."

She bit her lip, twisting a piece of her hair, then finally told him what had happened and everything that had been said. He said nothing for a moment, only stared at the floor, his brows knit. At last he said quietly, "I'm going to walk you back to your Tower tonight – I need to deal with them."

"But I wanted to stay tonight-"Lily began to protest.

"I need to deal with this, Lily," he interrupted. "We'll meet again tomorrow night." He suddenly whirled to face her, looking serious. "But I don't want you going out alone again, do you understand? Even when you walk out to visit Hagrid, have at least – one of your friends – _not_ Pettigrew – or Mary with you. And when you want to come up here, send me a note and I'll meet you at the staircase by your Tower."

"Severus-"

"And I'm going to teach you some good curses – just enough so you can handle yourself in an emergency. Not that there's going to be one – no, I'll make sure they never so much as blink at you. But you ought to be ready all the same, especially these days...."

"Severus! Look, can – can we just talk for a moment?"

He looked up from his pacing, surprised at her pale, anxious face. "What?"

"Well, I mean, I-"Twisting her hands, she sat down, Severus watching her, puzzled. "What – what Dolohov and Bulstrode said-"

"Oh." He waved his hand dismissively, turning away again. "I thought you knew better than to believe that."

"Well – but they – they didn't make up _everything,_ did they? Like – what Dolohov said about the houses – and you-"

"It may have some original truth, but it doesn't really apply, Lily. It doesn't matter that much."

"But what did they mean? And please just tell me. Don't give me anything about it not involving me, because obviously it does. Why does it really matter to them what we do?"

He sighed, moving to the window then walking back to her. "They don't like the image, Lily. As far as they're concerned, it's only acceptable to fuck a Mudblood bitch if you torture and kill her afterwards."

Lily flinched at his raw words, but swallowed and replied as steadily as she could, "So? Why does the image matter now instead of last year?"

Severus shook his head, and then suddenly dropped into the chair across the table from her. He was silent for a moment, his head in one hand. Lily watched, not touching him, merely keeping her gaze on his face. Finally lowering his hand, he looked back at her and said slowly, "Things are changing in my House. This Voldemort – the Dark Lord – is becoming more of a model – someone to admire, look up to, and one day soon, join. He is seen as a brilliant leader who will revolutionize the world to a better end."

"What?" Lily stared at him, incredulous. 'You can't be serious – how does killing off all the Muggles and half of the wizarding population make a better world?"

"Not everything is in black and white – or red and gold," he added icily. "To some that would be a utopia."

She swallowed again. "And what does any of this have to do with us?"

"My classmates – and the seventh years – are already preparing to join him. They – respect me – for my knowledge of curses, and my talents in them and Potions. They would consider it a great loss if I did not follow the Dark Lord, and they believe if they manage to recruit me, he will show them favor."

Lily sat, frozen in shock. "But – you can't – you wouldn't-"

"No, of course not." He made a brusque, impatient gesture, and laid his hand on hers. "I'm not going to sell my soul to something like that and lose you in the process. But – they are persistent. And of course there's no compromising – it would be impossible for me to keep you and still become his servant. You're a Muggle-born Gryffindor – Voldemort would hardly allow me to continue to associate with you."

"Oh." Lily withdrew her hand, folding her arms tightly as the room suddenly felt colder. She found everything he was telling her very disturbing. She had always imagined Death Eaters to be dark, faceless middle-aged men whom she would never meet – not teenage _boys, _her own schoolmates. The boys she had talked to tonight – it was difficult for her to imagine them as future murderers, gleefully carrying out the atrocities she had read about in the paper.

Severus moved around to where she was, tightly grasping her shoulder as he said softly, "Only two more years, Lily. Then we'll be out of our damned houses and away from them all. Just a couple more years to get through."

She smiled sadly back at him, reaching up to touch his arm.

The first Quidditch game – again, Gryffindor against Slytherin – was scheduled for mid-October. Ten days before it, Lily and Severus's table was approached by the Slytherin Captain, Beater Demetrius Lun, and a couple of his teammates. Not acknowledging Lily, Lun said curtly, "A word, Snape."

Severus had leaned back in his chair, looking up at them under hooded eyes. Lily knew he was, like her, gripping his wand under the table. "There's nothing you could have to say to me that you can't say before her." The "her" was indicated by the slightest tilting of his head.

Lun's Asian features flushed, and Lily could only imagine how much of an insult that was to him. But he leaned forward over the table, excluding her, and said, "Because of Rakine's general incompetence, she has been displaced from the team, which means that you, as the Reserve Seeker, will be taking her place in the upcoming matches."

For a moment, there was silence. Then Severus said softly, "Bit of short notice."

The Captain's slanted eyes were expressionless. "Yes, that's why we're having practices every other night from tonight until then. From six to eight thirty. Mandatory, Snape."

They left. Severus waited to insure they were out of earshot, then swore at them. "Bastards."

Lily sighed, rubbing her forehead. "So explain to this ignorant, naive Gryffindor what the significance of_ that_ is."

"It's nothing short of a threat, really. Switching the lineup like that at the last minute...I'm not sure exactly what they're trying to do. Sabotage, perhaps. Quidditch is a dangerous game." His voice was heavy with sarcasm. "Or they could be just hoping I'll make a fool of myself during the game, or Potter makes a ridiculously easy catch and shames me before the entire school. Then they'll have another reason to harass me."

"Ah." She bit her lip, thinking and fidgeting with her quill. "Be – be careful, won't you?"   
"Don't worry. I'd like to reach my seventeenth birthday."

That took Lily by a bit of surprise. Yes, she realized, he would be turning seventeen in a few months. So would she, in a few more. They would be of age.

Wow.   
"I'll be cheering for you," she said suddenly. "I do hope you get the Snitch before James."   
He gave a scoffing laugh. "No need for that, Lily. I know you'll be relieved if he catches it."

"No, seriously, Severus!" she insisted. "James has won dozens of times – I want you to win now that you have the chance, at least once, against him."

Appeased, he kissed her. "Thank you. But please tell your sisters to not to so much as nod at me during the game. That won't help things."

The day of the game Lily sat between Remus and Peter up in the stands, wearing a green bandana to counter every red and gold scarf in the Gryffindor stands. It got a lot of funny looks, but they weren't uncomprehending – only partly annoyed, partly amused.

Down on the field, the teams were standing in two rigid lines, waiting for the game to begin. Severus, gripping his broom, chanced half a glance at Lily's sisters. Rose was staring determinedly straight ahead, but a smile was tugging at the side of her mouth. Mary, who was almost directly across from him, gave his knees a very slight wink.

Potter and Lun walked forward and briefly grasped hands. The referee, Professor Middleton, blew his whistle. Severus kicked off hard and shot upward, higher than anyone else. Easily swerving in a large loop to dodge a Bludger, he saw Potter rise up to almost his level. Below, Black and Mary were getting into their own duties, though Mary appeared to be a bit more reserved – she seemed to be watching Black, waiting for something. But it was Severus's own teammates that worried him most. He took another brief glance at the Chasers – a Slytherin had just raised the Quaffle to shoot it past the very tense Gryffindor Keeper, Jonathan, and suddenly Leslie, the third Gryffindor Chaser, had swooped over his head, knocking the ball out of his hand and toward Potter. The Chaser Potter. Severus scowled and looked back towards Potter's brother, who had let out a whoop of appreciation and was now circling lazily, though he soon had to dodge a Bludger aimed at him by Lun.

Lily was shivering slightly under Remus's cloak – a surprisingly cool October wind blowing, but she was mostly shaking from nerves. Rocking back and forth, she glanced at the score: 30 – 20, in Slytherin's favor, after half an hour. Well, Jonathan was doing better than last year. She grabbed Peter's binoculars for the tenth time and peered up at the Seekers. Once, James had started toward the Snitch, but Severus, instead of risking a race, blocked him effectively. Peter, disappointed, had said something that made Lily dig her elbow into his thick ribs. The Hufflepuff narrator, meanwhile, was getting bored.

"And there we have _another_ brilliant save by Gryffindor, great job Gryffindor – Potter in possession, Evans in possession, back to Potter – ooh, that wasn't very nice, now; penalty to Gryffindor. Aaand...blocked. Is it just me, or is there some sort of circle going on? Ah, well – Slytherin in possession, Jagur, to be specific; up, down, pass to – Evans! Merlin, that girl's quick. Back to the Slytherin end – oh! Yes! Finally! We have Seeker activity!"

Lily snatched at Peter's binoculars, nearly fracturing the bridge of his nose, and saw Severus shooting across the pitch after something invisible to nearly everyone else, James behind him, but closing on his tail – she trained the lenses back on her boyfriend.

Severus was flattened against his broom, his long hair whipped back, hand extended, when a Beater slammed into him with so much force Severus was thrown bodily from his broom, only managing to catch at the last second his broom handle with one hand.

It took Lily a minute to realize why it seemed the entire school was shouting – the Beater had been a Slytherin.

James, meanwhile, had ducked underneath him, snagging the Snitch almost instinctively as he rose on the other side; but he hesitated to announce his catch, glancing uncertainly at the hanging boy, as though wondering if it was fair.

But the commentator had no doubts. "So Slytherin, for reasons unknown to us, sabotages its own beeping Seeker and Potter catches the Snitch! Gryffindor wins, 170 to 30!"

Lily didn't hear him. She was staring at Sirius, who was quite clearly laughing – laughing as he watched Severus dangle from his broom. In that moment, Lily was quite sure that she hated him – really, truly hated him.

With a sudden effort, Severus pulled himself back onto his broom and angled for the ground. Lily was woken out of her paralysis by Remus, who touched her lightly and asked, "Shouldn't we go and see how he is?"

Not answering, she jumped down the stands and pushed through the crowds. She got to the grounds and made her way toward where she had seen him descend. Finally she caught a glimpse of Professor Middleton attempting to lay a land on his shoulder, saying, "Right, I think you'd better get up to the hospital wing," but Severus jerked away. It was then that she saw the blood in his hair and running from his nose and jaw, onto his Quidditch robes.

Gasping, she shoved past the last gaggle of Ravenclaws to run to see how bad the damage was, but he saw her first.

"_Keep away from me,"_ he hissed, his bloody hair falling into his face.

Lily stopped dead. Wordlessly she turned, and, maintaining a distance of six feet, walked with him as he stalked up towards the castle.

But once they passed through the front doors, Lily took the lead through the deserted corridors up to the second floor. She stopped before a long portrait of Bloody Mary and held out her prefect badge for her to inspect. The old queen nodded gravely, and suddenly the whole portrait shot upwards into the ceiling, leaving the frame and a gap in the wall – a perfect door.

"Come on." Lily stepped through. He followed, barely looking around.

It was a small, circular room created for the use of female prefects. A curved, comfortable-looking sofa was on the left; in the back was an inground, circular hot tub that had filled itself with water upon their entrance and was now bubbling soothingly. On the right were three marble sinks and a long, wide mirror – above that, a row of cabinets. Lily went straight to the cabinets, calling, "Take off your robes and shirt."

As he dropped his broom by the door and began to do so, she pulled open the cabinets, rifling through the contents. They held mostly and jars of herbs that were meant to soothe or relax, but she was sure she had seen a few with healing properties as well there. She took out a few small jars and set them on the counter, then moved over to the hot tub. Picking up a large bluish-green ceramic bowl, she dipped it in the hot water and brought it back to the counter where she added and mixed the herbs in the jars. She glanced around to the two chairs on either side of the sofa, and one moved forward to directly behind Severus, the other in front of him. Finished, Lily levitated the bowl and a soft cloth over to where he was now sitting, bare from the waist up. He was making no attempt to check the flow of blood running down from his nose and chin, except once to swipe at it. Other than that he did not move at all, his eyes mere slits that watched her move.

Lily carefully wrapped a few of the leaves in the cloth and held it to the side of his nose, then his jaw as the blood slowed, then stopped. She shook the leaves back into the water and swirled the cloth around in the cloudy water, and when she pressed it back to his face he hissed and pulled back slightly.

"Hold still," she said shortly, reaching up with her other hand to help him. She ran his cloth through his hair a few times to get all the blood out – his head wasn't bleeding, she realized, it was just from his face that it got in his hair. Bruises were already forming all along his right side; as she pressed the hot, wet cloth to it, she felt how tense his muscles were.

All this time he said nothing, only watched her work. Finally she sent the bowl to empty itself in the sink and turned her chair around so she could lean forward on the wooden frame, her chin resting on her hands.

"I hate this school," he said softly. "Whichever of the founders' idea it was to cut it up into four apartheids ought to be forced to go through seven years of it in Slytherin."

"Is it really that bad there?"

"No other house is so loathed by the other three." He cautiously lifted his right hand to push back his wet hair. "I hardly need to tell you I'll be resigning from the team."

Lily wondered why she felt a flicker of disappointment. "Well, like you said, we only have a couple of years left."

He gave a slight nod. "Indeed."

But after that game, things seemed different between them to her. He wasn't withdrawn physically, but was less willing than ever to talk about what his house was doing or almost anything at all about him. It frustrated Lily to no end, and her temper and desire to keep the peace became increasingly short. Of course, it didn't help Sirius had resumed his subtle insults and hints doubting her loyalty and sanity as pastime. For her part, she would never forget the look on Sirius's face as he laughed. But she and Severus began to have little disagreements. At most, the stoniness and silence lasted two or three days, and although they never put a permanent dent in their relationship, it was certainly irritating.

The Marauders, meanwhile, had grown tighter than ever. Lily knew vaguely of a school map they were creating – apparently it was no ordinary map, and the boys were being very secretive about it. Occasionally Remus or David would go over to her and ask what the best way was to represent trick doors or how to make the map slide from wing to wing, tower to tower. She was seldom seen with them as a group anymore; individually, she liked to talk with Remus, or perhaps James (who had thoroughly convinced himself that whatever feelings beyond friendship he might have felt for her were now dead and decomposing six feet under), since he was actually talking _back_ now. But it was Remus in whom she confided more, even sometimes mentioning some of the problems she and Severus were going through, because she knew without asking he would never tell the other, nor would he condemn them.

Natalie invited them to come home for the Christmas holidays, so the three girls agreed to join the twins for Christmas away from Hogwarts. Once he heard Lily wasn't staying, Severus decided to return to his house as well, not seeing any point in staying. Sirius, Remus, and Peter remained, however, insisting the relatively deserted castle would be an opportune time to complete the map.

Petunia was there when they arrived, apparently having adapted well enough to the Potters' house, but evidently she had plans to stay at her friend's house for a few days.

A week before Christmas Day, Severus visited Diagon Alley. Pausing in Knockturn Alley's more extensive, if not more questionable, apothecary, he moved past the main alley toward a small lane that held a number of shops by far more costly than Diagon Alley's. There were a few restaurants, an antique shop, a jewelers, a bookshop, and a shop selling robes and accessories for formal occasions. It was this last one where he was headed.

A prim, dark woman behind a jewelry counter rose to greet him. "Good day, sir."

He nodded and walked over to the women's side of the store, idly skimming through the rows of gowns, some normal robes, only made of silk or satin, and some Muggle designs. His long fingers stopped suddenly and lifted out one. Holding it before him, he appraised it shrewdly, turning it around. Slowly, a pleased look came into his eye, and he carried the dress over to another area where he chose shoes, then a bracelet and pair of earrings that matched. He was about to pay for it all when he noticed a number of circlets and other headdresses on display. Pointing out the one he wanted, he added it to his purchases. The clerk carefully packed each item into its individual white box and seemed surprised when he produced the required number of Galleons.

"Good day, sir – and may the young lady be happy with the gifts."

Before he left, he stopped briefly at Eeylops Owl Emporium to rent a few owls; he doubted Apollo could handle all the boxes by himself.

Christmas morning the Potters and Evanes were eating breakfast in a large dining room only used for special occasions. A couple of James and David's uncles were coming over later, so they and Natalie (the uncles were her brothers) were telling stories about them.

"When we were growing up, we had a neighbor – an old Squib named Lavitha – who would often watch us when our parents had to go somewhere. She would teach us about Muggle artifacts, I remember," Natalie reminisced, stirring her coffee.

"Wish she was still around to give David and James some of the same education," the father said, with a side look toward his sons. Clearly the lighter incident had not been forgotten.

"Well, just because we knew what they did didn't mean we used them properly," Natalie informed him. "I remember once Nathan put his crayons in the oven and set the dial on broil – the highest heat," she explained to the twins' blank faces. "He wanted to make candles, he said. Nearly burned the house down."

Laughing, Mary cried, "It didn't work?"

Petunia pursed her lips. "How old was he?"

"Old enough to know not to put crayons in the oven," replied Natalie.

"Didn't Nigel own an inn a while back?" asked Joseph, reaching for another sausage.

"Yes – made a good deal of money out of it, too, before selling it to a friend." She suddenly smiled. "He had named it The Dog and Turtle, and had a dog named Turtle and a turtle named Dog. Oh, he used to capture turtles and charm the words 'Come to The Dog and Turtle' on their shells in bright paint, then set them loose again."

"Oh, yes, I remember that," Joseph said, nodding. "Despite the turtles, it was a good pub. Written up in the _Daily Prophet_, I believe. "

"What do they do now?" asked Rose.

"Uncle Nathan's an Auror," James said proudly. "Uncle Nigel works at the Ministry, too, but more indirectly – just helps with the Department for the Control of Magical Creatures – right, Mum? – but he mainly manages a company that breeds owls. David and me got ours as a present when we turned eight."

"What is their last name?" Petunia asked. "They wouldn't be Potters if they're your brothers...."

"No, my maiden name is Blaha."

"Blah-ha?" Rose repeated, who couldn't help but laugh at the strange name.

"There were rumors when Natalie and I were first engaged she was only marrying me to change her last name," Joseph told them, throwing his wife an amused glance.

"Oh, and girls," she said quickly, "be sure to ask Nigel about the time he pretended he was a kitten."

As everyone laughed, David asked, "Dad, didn't you once want to be a Puffskein when you grew up?"

Joseph began to protest, but he was interrupted with a screech, and four owls swooped into the room. Petunia flinched and ducked.

"I thought all the presents had come by now," Natalie said in surprise.

"That's Apollo!" Lily said, startled, as she recognized the leading black owl. 'Severus's owl."

'What's it doing _here?"_ David demanded in disgust. Apollo let out another savage screech – apparently he wasn't very happy about being there, either. He released the two white boxes with blue trim he was carrying behind Lily's chair, and the next two owls added three more boxes to the stack. The last bird dropped two square, wide boxes in front of Rose and Mary, respectively, and landed a last smaller package before Petunia. Apollo gave one last cry, dived at James's head, snapping his beak threateningly, and snatched up David's biscuit as he tore out of the room, followed dutifully by the three others.

"Obviously, Severus sends his greetings," Mary concluded, grinning.

"He told his owl to scalp me, didn't he?" James asked suspiciously, rubbing his head.

"He might have," Rose said evasively.

"He's rather extravagant, isn't he?" questioned Joseph, nodding toward Lily's tall pile.

"Erm," she answered, staring at the boxes. "I guess I'll take these up to my room."

But before she could get up, two house-elves rushed forward and snatched the packages up.

"We'll go take these up, too," Rose decided, standing with her box. Mary and Petunia followed.

The house-elves had carefully arranged Lily's presents on a table in her room. Rose and Mary sat on the bed and commenced unwrapping the seemingly identical boxes, but Petunia stood awkwardly in the doorway, fidgeting with her gift. Lily smiled encouragingly at her.

"It won't bite, Petunia – well, probably not."

In some trepidation she unfolded the paper to reveal a long, slim, gray quill with streaks of blue in it. She looked at it in wonder for a moment, and then read the note accompanying it out loud. "If you would rather not use it as a writing tool, it should make a fairly decent bookmark – Severus."

"Oooh," breathed Rose suddenly – not over the quill or brief words, but rather the long, soft, deep purple cloak with green ties she had lifted from the box delivered to her. Mary had a similar one, but red with black ties. Lily forgot her own still untouched boxes to examine them – the red one looked particularly well on Mary. Even Petunia, with her dislike of magical clothes, seemed to admire them. But Rose pushed Lily back toward the table.

"Go on, I want to see what on earth could be in all those," she urged.

Slitting open the card attached to the largest box, Lily read it, and her eyes widened in surprise. "Ohh – this – I think he bought an entire ensemble for me for the Sixth Year Dance," she whispered.

"An _entire-"_

"Open it!"

She did – the largest one first, and its contents brought gasps and truly girlish shrieks. It was a long halter-neck dress, of a forest green shade, made of silky, shimmery material. As she held it up, the bottom of it reached just below her ankles. The back was very low cut, all the way down to the small of her back, and the strings that tied behind her neck were threaded with silver and were so long they reached the back of the dress. The hem, too, had a silver design embroidered all around the edge.

The second largest held a pair of silver strappy stilettos, and the next two a bracelet in the shape of a snake whose tail curled around its own neck, and a pair of matching earrings of snakes whose tails clung to her earlobes and bodies curved down in a S to the raised heads, which looked straight out. But it was the last parcel that surprised them the most. It was an elaborate headdress – made of tiny silver links, forming a wide band that encircled her head, with three emeralds dangling in the front, the middle one almost hanging between her eyes. In the back the silver links fell in a net pattern to a point, an emerald dangling wherever the links crossed.

As Lily was holding it up, Natalie entered the room. "Hello, I just came to check up, the boys have gone on into the parlor – what's all this?"

She had stopped short at the sight of the dress, shoes, jewelry, and cloaks spread over the bed. Mary quickly told her whose were whose and what Lily's things were for. Natalie glanced at the gilded label on the corner of the headdress box and nodded her approval.

"The _Labyrinth _– very nice. He has good taste, if nothing else, Lily," she said, winking.

Petunia had caught up a handful of the silver net and was squinting at it as though each link held great secrets in them she wanted to discover. "These aren't – they couldn't be _real?"_

Natalie was at her side in a moment and held up one of the green stones, studying it with an expert eye. "Oh yes. They're quite real."

Lily swallowed, suddenly feeling dizzy. "Ah. Dear. Er, Natalie, would it be all right if I ran over to Severus's really, really quickly? I just need to speak to him for an instant, and I'll be right back."

"Of course, dear. But do hurry, Nathan and Nigel will be here soon."

With quick instructions to her sisters to put everything back as neatly as it was found, she grabbed a handful of Floo Powder and hurried to the nearest Floo grate.

A few seconds later she burst into his room. "Severus!"

He was sitting up in his bed, apparently having been engrossed in the book, _Controlling Fire_, she had sent him, but at her appearance he dropped it and offered a smile. "It's very interesting, really, but I consider this a much better present."

Lily ignored that and jumped onto his bed beside him. _"Why_ did you send me all that?"

"Go check the calendar, my dear, and you'll find all this gift-giving is not as random as you think."

She grabbed his arm. "I _know_ it's Christmas, you infuriating, moody prat, but why did you send me so much stuff?"

"Yes, it _is_ Christmas, you could try to be civil to the one you claim you love. And did you or did you not see the card?"

"I did. It didn't explain why you went and spent Merlin knows how many Galleons-"

He gently pried her hand off his arm. "Because I wanted to."

"Severus, it's too much! You could have settled with just the dress; I have shoes and jewelry that would have worked fine-"

"But do you have snake earrings and bracelet?" She shook her head. "And I wanted you to have them."

Melting a little, she leaned against his knees. "The only thing missing is a necklace."

His fingers slid down her neck, under the silver chain of the necklace he had given her on their anniversary. "I supposed you would wear this."

She looked down at the green and silver heart. "Oh, it does match. It's all very Slytheriny, you know."

"Yes; that's exactly why I bought them." He slowly brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

A smile tugged at her mouth. "So your plan is to turn me into a Slytherin."

"Perhaps."

"Mmm." She sat up again, suddenly. "But that headdress, Severus-"

"Lily." He firmly locked her wrists together with his bony hands. "Didn't you like it?"

"Of course! All of it – it was all beautiful – but the cost had to be ridiculous, and for me-"

"_Stop complaining. _You should know by now that if you're going to be with me, I'm going to get you ridiculously expensive, Slytheriny things. So you can either get used to it, or – suffer in torment for the rest of your existence."

Despite herself, she grinned. "Leaving's not a choice?"

"Oh no." He pulled her up beside him. "You're bound to me forever. Don't you know that once you fall in love with a Slytherin, there's no escape?"

"S'pose I didn't read the small print." She laid her head back against his shoulder.

"You must not have. Well, now that you're here...." He slipped an arm around her waist.

She sat up again, just as abruptly. "Oh – I'm sorry, Severus, but I can't stay. I promised Natalie I'd go straight back." She stood up apologetically.

Disappointed, he leaned back on his elbows. "So you just came to shout at me for wasting my money on you, and not even wish me a Merry Christmas?"

She hesitated, then smiled and leaned over him, resting a hand on either side, so close their foreheads touched. "Merry Christmas," she whispered, and kissed him.

Several minutes later she stumbled out of the Potters' fireplace, rather ruffled, and promptly winced to see two men talking with James, David, their parents, and her sisters.

"I'm sorry," she apologized quickly. "I didn't mean to be gone so long-"

"It's all right, no one really expected you to be back soon," Mary called, grinning.

James had jumped up and now pushed her forward to introduce his uncles. "Lily, this is my uncle Nigel" –a tall, sturdy man with a thin face, large nose, and rectangular glasses, which were placed before intelligent eyes- "and this is my uncle Nathan." Lily was reminded faintly of Sirius – the better half-quarter-eighth of him. "And guys, this is Lily, whose faults and failures I have been telling you about for the past five minutes."

As she shook their hands, Nathan said, rather teasingly, "Ah, yes, the rebel with a Slytherin boyfriend."

"I thought you were joking!" she hissed at James.

"I never joke," he said, mockingly stern. "I told them all about how I beat you in our third year-"

"-so that you drove me into anorexia the next?" she challenged.

Nathan sighed proudly. "That's my nephew."

The two brothers took very well to the girls, even Petunia. The elder – Nigel – seemed to find a kindred spirit in Lily, as he told her he had also been top of his year, Prefect, and Head Boy. He told her that the way things were going, she took would be made Head Girl next year – Dumbledore would probably overlook her relationship, he assured her with a twinkle in his eye. Nathan was cheerfully teasing Rose by constantly referring to her as David's "little wife."

They stayed overnight for James and David's seventeenth birthday the next day, presenting the twins with two new broomsticks, top of the line Blurs. Needless to say, they were ecstatic.

Upon their arrival back at Hogwarts, Sirius, Remus, and Peter towed them back up to the common room with barely contained glee.

"We finished it!" Peter whispered excitedly as they entered through the portrait hole.

"You did what?" James cried, looking outraged. "You promised you wouldn't until we got back!"

"Well, you know we didn't have that much left to do with it – just the other houses' dorms and things like that," Sirius quickly explained.

David scowled, looking put out as well.

Remus tried to make peace. "We followed your ideas for the password and introduction page."

Lily interrupted. "I gather you're talking about that oh-so-secret map you've been working on for the past few months?"

"Yep, and it's finished," Sirius said happily, but then he paused and threw her a disdainful look. "I suppose you could see it, if you can find it in you not to race away and tell Sevvie darling all about it."

It was then that Lily discovered she hadn't missed Sirius at all. But before she could retaliate, James spoke up.

"Cut it out, Padfoot. Lily's loyal enough to Moony, Pronghorn, Wormtail, and me – the only reason she has for betrayal would just be to spite you."

She laughed and smirked at Sirius as the eight of them gathered around a table and Remus carefully spread out a roll of seemingly blank parchment. Peter drew his wand and cleared his throat before tapping the middle of the parchment proudly and whispering, _"I solemnly swear I am up to no good."_

At once curvy, spidery lines spread from his wand tip, forming the words

_Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Pronghorn, and Prongs_

_Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers_

_are proud to present_

**_The Marauder's Map_**

Rose clamped a hand over her mouth, muffling a squeal. Mary leaned back in her chair, laughing rather giddily, as Lily hugged Remus, then James fiercely.

"Oh my God, it's brilliant! _You're_ brilliant!"

David, who had gotten a bit more than a platonic hug from Rose, took out his wand and tapped the first word "Messrs." "Look at the dedication."

More lines swirled around beneath the heading, resulting in:

_This map is dedicated to our girls: Lil, Rose, and Mary, who have, do, and hopefully always will hold us back from our full potential – seeing that our full potential would probably land us in Azkaban._

Rose started to laugh. "Oh, wow. Thanks, guys."

But Lily was staring at the words, rather perplexed. She glanced up, almost suspiciously, at Sirius. "Lil?"

He shrugged, not meeting her eye. "I was the one that wrote it. And whether or not you are insisting on clinging to futile sentiments about Slytherins or not, your name is still Lil."

"Er. Thanks."

"Anyway-" he tapped the parchment impatiently with his wand twice, and the words were quickly replaced with an intricate, highly detailed map of the first floor of Hogwarts, with tiny, labeled dots moving all around.

For the next ten minutes, the boys gave a complete tour of the map, moving through all the floor of the castle, from down into the kitchens to the North Tower, where Professor Trelawney moved slowly around in her classroom. Then Remus showed how it could swing into an exclusive view of Gryffindor Tower, and they were all equally delighted to see eight dots, completely tagged with their full names, huddled around a table.

"Hold on!" Lily said suddenly, "Does it show all the houses' dorms?"

"Yeah – oh, fine – we know what you're after-"David pulled the view out into a broader view of the floor, dropped it down a couple of levels, and tapped what apparently was a hidden corridor, muttering, _"Slytherin."_

At once an overhead view appeared of the Slytherin common room and dorms, replete with dots, some pairs alarmingly close together. But Lily bent over one of the boys' rooms, where a dot marked _Severus Snape_ appeared to be sitting on his bed. Fascinated, she watched as another dot, identified as _Antonin Dolohov, _moved toward him, but Severus's dot shifted slightly, and Dolohov withdrew, quicker than he had approached.

Pleased, Lily was about to turn use of the map back over to its creators, when something else occurred to her. "Oh – wait a moment-"She snatched up the parchment and fled with it to a more private armchair.

"What are you doing?" Peter demanded indignantly as they all followed her disobligingly to where she was.

"Nothing – just wait a moment-"She hurriedly pulled up a broad map of the sixth floor. Yes – there it was. Their room, with its table, dresser, and futon. She smiled grimly. Thank God she had thought of it now... "What spell did you use to track the dots?"

Sirius scowled, but Remus answered her without hesitating. It took her only a few minutes to imagine how to counteract it, and enchant the map so her and Severus's dots, whenever they approached the unused wing on the sixth floor, would stop short at the entrance, and remain frozen there until they left the wing, whereupon they would resume their shadowing.

"What did you do?" queried Sirius mistrustfully as she smugly returned their masterpiece.

"Of everyone in Hogwarts, Sirius, I think Rose, Mary, and I are most entitled to whatever scraps of privacy we can get from that map," she answered coldly. "So I'll trust you not to – no, scratch that – I'll trust the _others_ to keep you from trying to undo it."


	17. Part Two of Book Seven

**_Part Two_**

She and Rose still talked some nights after hours, though not as frequently as they had a few years ago.  Her sisters were the only ones Lily felt completely comfortable talking to about every area concerning Severus, and so Rose's ears were assaulted with vents, or, more rarely, excited narrations.  But, as she faithfully listened, she began to grow anxious of what was never quite mentioned. 

"Lily," she ventured finally one night, "you didn't…with him, I mean-you haven't gone all the way, have you?"

She shook her head slightly, not quite meeting her eyes, which didn't relieve Rose at all-she had been hoping for a firm, "Of course not."

"No," she said instead after a moment.  "I'd tell you if I had.  But we haven't…not yet.  We've-we've come awfully close, but no-not yet." Lily hesitated, then burst out, "He's been asking me since Christmas of last year.  I've always said no, and he'd drop it for a week or so…but this is the only thing he's ever really asked me for, and-I know I shouldn't, but I can't help but feel a little bad for always saying no…." She trailed off, fingering the edge of the pillowcase in her lap.   

This was exactly what Rose had feared.  She knew Lily; she knew she would feel guilty about refusing someone she loved, or even liked, almost anything-that was a dangerous trait.  She was afraid that if her sister didn't gain another reason soon not to give in, Lily might lose that innocence very, very soon.  So, taking a deep breath, she clasped her hand.

"Lily-promise me something, all right? Promise me you won't do it while you're still sixteen and here at Hogwarts, okay? Just-promise me that.  On Nicki and Anetka's memory."

Lily was surprised at her seriousness, but nevertheless promised.  Rose went to bed relieved, knowing no power-or hormones-on heaven or earth could move her to break that vow now.

Mid-February Lily and Severus were sitting on a stone bench before a window on the first floor.  It was an hour or so before they had to be in bed when they noticed the Marauders come down the main staircase, looking around hurriedly, apparently searching for someone.  When Sirius spotted them, he let out a shout. 

_"There_ you are!"

All five nearly ran toward her, ignoring Severus. 

"We've been looking all over for you," Sirius accused. 

"Well, I'm sorry I wasn't aware of your secret meeting," she shot at them.  "Next time maybe you can, I don't know, tell me?"

_"Lil."_ He leaned forward and grabbed her shoulder, and though she tried to pull back, he kept a firm grip.  With his other hand he pointed to Remus, who was very pale and looking anxious, and mouthed clearly, _"Moony."_

It clicked.  "Oh!" she gasped, springing up, instantly repentant.  "I'm sorry, Remus, I can't believe I forgot-"

"And she does recall her responsibilities," Sirius said cuttingly, thrusting out his book bag to her, and Peter held out his bag as well.  She accepted them dutifully.  "You know what we were assigned-Rose is doing David's and Remus's this time.  Don't make all of our essays for Transfiguration exactly the same-just make them similar, she expects us to copy off each other anyway, but don't do Peter's too well, or she'll go mad on us.  And _stay alert."_

"All right," she said shifting the two heavy bags so she could take James's homework too. 

"Thanks, Lily," he said sincerely as he handed her it.  "We owe you for all eternity."

"Yep, you do."

"C'mon, let's go," Sirius urged, and the five boys raced off. 

Severus slowly rose from where he was sitting.  "Let me see if I completely understand this; whenever your 'friends' " -the doubt in that one word was clearer than ever- "decide to go off and play whatever game they do at night, they make you and your sister do all their homework?"

"Yep."

"Lily, they're taking advantage of you," he said bluntly. 

"I know," she admitted casually, hoisting James's bag over her shoulder.  "But I don't mind, so it's no big deal.  Besides," she added, with an uncharacteristically malicious smirk, "I'm going to make Sirius's paper appear hurried and fail him.  He always gets top marks, I'm tired of him gloating about it, and he ought to know better than to give his work to me.  Next time he'll have Rose do it, and I'll do Remus's.  Well, I better go up and join Rose and get started on it all.  See you tomorrow." She kissed him and went off toward the Gryffindor Tower. 

She hadn't told him the whole truth, actually; while they did work on part of their homework, their main duty was to watch the Marauder's Map and make sure Filch or anyone else wasn't going to run into them.  If they were in danger, the girls would send a long distance Alarm Jinx, which warned them to find a hiding spot posthaste. 

Severus watched her go with narrowed eyes until she was out of sight, then, after a moment's pause, started in the direction he had seen the Marauders go.

The next morning Lily, Rose, and Mary were waiting dutifully by the portrait hole for the boys.  Nearly everyone else had already gone down for breakfast when they finally stumbled down the stairs, each looking almost as exhausted as Remus, who appeared to be in need of a walker.  Or a stretcher. 

David practically collapsed on Rose's shoulders. 

"Do you want me to carry you?" she asked, smiling. 

"Uhh" was the detailed answer. 

Lily moved between James and Remus and slipped her arms beneath both of their shoulders.  "Come on, boys.  Food should revive you some."

"Wait." Sirius raised his hand, shaking his head to clear it.  "A word, Lil."

"What?" she asked, frowning. 

"Erm-" he snapped his fingers, trying to remember.  "Oh.  Yeah.  Tell Snape to mind his own bloody business."

_"What?"_ James, who had unconsciously grown dependent on the arm behind his back, lurched and nearly fell as the support disappeared for a moment.  "What are you on about?"

"Snape! That greasy, nosy prat you're infatuated with! Weren't you watching on the map? He was trying to follow us around last night."

Lily stared at him.  "He did what?"

Sirius shook his head, as though the effort of explaining was too much for him, and dragged himself toward the portrait hole unsteadily.  "Just tell that son of-the git to keep to his own damn Tower or Dungeon or wherever it is Slytherins make their holes.  Tell him if he insists on sticking his abnormally large nose where it's not wanted, he might just get hurt."

"Severus can handle himself," she said automatically as they left the common room; she helped Remus and James over the step. 

"Lily…please," Remus slurred.  "He…really could…get hurt."

She sighed.  "Oh, I will.  I don't want you to get in trouble, Remus."

James managed to raise his head slightly to grin druggedly at her.  "Yeah, and it might be an added plus if the rest of us aren't expelled, eh?"

But later, Severus refused to talk about it when cornered by Lily.  "Didn't you say in the beginning that you wouldn't interfere between your friends and me?" he countered.

"No! Well, that isn't what I meant.  Severus, these are my friends; why do you have to get them in trouble?"

"They're not _my_ friends."

She shook her head, then grabbed his hand pleadingly.  "Please, Severus.  I don't care about everything else you guys do, but please, don't mess with this."

He raised an eyebrow, interested.  "So it's something big, then?"

Desperate, she squeezed his hand.  "Severus, please! Leave them alone-for my sake!"

"No," he said shortly, pulling his hand out of her grip.  But then he questioned uncertainly, "It wouldn't incriminate you, would it?"

Lily opened her mouth, and an idea struck her to say yes so he would give it up, but before she could carry it out he cut her off. 

"No, you can't lie to me.  Obviously it wouldn't." Seeing her look of despair, he sighed, "Lily, what makes you think I'll publish whatever it is across the school? Most likely, I'll probably just keep it to myself so I can haunt them with the possibility of blackmail."

She shook her head in disbelief.  "Is there some voice inside of you chanting at you to jump in and try to wreak as much havoc as possible in their lives? Is that it?"

He smirked.  "Just keep things simple by being their friend and loving me-and keeping those two separate."

A notice had appeared declaring that the Sixth Year Dance would be on the 25th of March, and a Hogsmeade trip for all those who wished to buy last minute robes was planned for the weekend beforehand.  Any sixth year could ask someone from a different year, except a seventh year, who had their own dance coming a few months later and weren't allowed to attend both.  But a good majority of the school was buzzing about it – girls tittering about who they hoped would ask them, boys agonizing about being turned down.  A few brave hopefuls called to Lily to ask if she was still with that Snape, though most didn't dare.  It was unquestioned that Rose and David would go together, along with their roommate Alice and her boyfriend, Jason.  James, when prodded by Sirius, admitted to a couple of girls on the reserve Gryffindor team he liked, and eventually asked one, who accepted instantly.  Remus had decided long ago to never get in a relationship; Peter chose to save himself the inevitable humiliation by not even trying, and Sirius – well-

The Wednesday before the Hogsmeade trip all eight were in the common room, lounging lazily as they watched Nicole Adesanya point and laugh in Stanley Bluebin's face as he tried to ask her to the dance.

"Harsh, that," commented David, grinning.

"Not that you'd ever experience that yourself, eh, Pronghorn?" questioned Peter, leaning back on his pillow.

"I would hope not," he answered, grabbing Rose by the waist and pulling her toward him from where she was sitting at the end of the sofa.

"Speaking of which," Sirius said offhandedly, leaning back on two legs of the ottoman he was sitting on, "fancy going with me, Mary?" He knew, of course, as surely as Remus would grow some fangs and fur come the next full moon, that she would refuse without a second thought.

Mary's quill paused momentarily over the inside cover of Remus's Transfiguration book, on which she had been writing pieces of songs.  "I suppose so."

The ottoman slammed sharply down backwards against the carpet – Sirius hit the ground.  Hard.  But he rolled to his feet quickly, though with one hand to his back.  "Merlin, Mary, it's one thing to laugh at the poor bloke, but do you hate me so much you try to break my spine?"

The young sixteen-year-old struggled determinedly not to smile.  "Are you sincere or not?"

Now the other Marauders and Lily and Rose were watching with the interest of someone witnessing a comet streak around the solar system, its tail spelling out "Chudley Cannons all the way!" James grinned at this point and voiced his opinion, "Nah, he's not sincere – just Sirius.  I think the question is whether or not _she_ is sincere – or serious."

Sirius shook his head quickly, as though it was ridiculous to even consider.  "No, she no – are you?" he demanded, acquiring new faith suddenly.

Mary maintained her cool eye contact, tapping her quill against the cover of the book.  "As ser-earnest as you are."

A sudden, unexpected grin spread across his face – he fell backwards into the chair behind him.  "In that case, I shall look forward to the very, very rare honor of seeing you in a dress."

She couldn't resist.  His pure, undiluted happiness-and also perhaps the mention of the inevitable dress-pushed her into saying, "You know I only said yes so I could go, right?"

His expression never changed, but he stared up at the stone ceiling.  'You didn't have to say that, _you_ know.  You could have had some mercy and just let me go on thinking that you actually wanted to go with me because I was _special."_

"You are special, Sirius," Rose said comfortingly.

"Very," murmured Lily, smug in the knowledge of the ambiguousness of her agreement.  "Just not in Mary's eyes."

"You're so cruel, Mary," sighed James in admiration.

"Thank you."

Late that night, a few minutes after the five Gryffindor boys had finally lapsed into silence in their dorm, Sirius's voice was heard.

"I knew she'd say yes, you know."

James's reply never hesitated.  "Of course you did, Padfoot."

But Mary was less than grateful Saturday morning when her sisters came down to her dorm, interrupting her lazy lie-in by plucking the book she was reading out of midair and pulling down her comforter. 

"It's _cold!"_ Mary yelped, attempting to draw the blanket back up around her.

Rose threw her her cloak.  "Then get up and get dressed in something other than those thin pajamas."

"Why should I?" she demanded.  "This is what weekends are for-to lie in bed and stay warm." She succeeded in pulling the heavy blanket back up to her ears, but Lily promptly pulled it back down and handed her her shoes. 

"Not today.  You and Rose have to go down and buy dress robes for the dance.  I'm coming to make sure you actually do get something."

Mary's eyes widened in horror as she sat up, pulling her cloak tighter around her pajamas.  "Oh, shit, do I have to? Can't we just take a pair of my ordinary robes and fix them up a bit?"

"No," said Lily flatly.  "You are going to wear an actual, specially made _dress_ for once in your life.  You will look _feminine_."

"I already look feminine!" she said indignantly, but as her sisters' raised their eyebrows, she added, "Well, as feminine as I want to, anyway."

"I don't want to be rude, but do shut up," came the voice of Helena, one of Mary's roommates.

"Oh, sorry," said Rose, suddenly realizing that what she and Lily were doing-talking loudly and obstinately at this regular hour on a Saturday morning-was probably illegal in most countries.  "We're in the process of leaving."

Mary was pulling on her socks now rather sulkily, muttering about how unnecessary it was to dress up for people who had seen her right after she had gotten out of bed since she was about ten.

"No, you're doing this, Mary," said Lily stubbornly.  "All the way, too.  I'm going to ask Alice to do something with your hair."

She looked horrified.  "Why? Why can't we just leave it the way it always is? Well I suppose we could unbraid it-but can't we just let it hang loose?"

"You won't have it hanging loose for the same reason you'll be wearing a dress."

"And I _do_ mean to be rude-either shut up or leave." The laconic demand came from another bed; its occupant's voice was muffled, since she had her pillow over her face.

"Sorry, Alberta." Mary stood up, sighing dejectedly.  "I'm ready."

Half an hour later the three girls were huddled together as they moved slowly down a Hogsmeade street against the thick rain.  Due to the weather, there was a smaller number of Hogwarts students there than normal.  Also due to the weather, Mary's mood had not improved.

"There." Rose pointed to a large, brightly lit clothing store with several enchanted dummies moving around in display cases, showing off their designs.  "The _Zen Den_."

"It has a funky name," observed Lily cheerfully, pulling Mary along.

Once inside, as they tried to shake off most of the water, an energetic wizard walked up to them, clasping his hands together.  "Welcome to the Zen Den.  May I assist you in any way? Anything in particular you young ladies are looking for?"

Lily shook her head, rather taken aback by the near officiousness.  "No, we're just going to look around."

"All right, then! If you need anything, or have any questions, just ask." He backed away, still smiling broadly.

The search went slowly, with Rose sifting leisurely through the rows, and Mary wholly refusing to cooperate with Lily's determined efforts.  It soon become evident that another salesclerk, a shorter witch who appeared to be in her late forties were following them around, though more inconspicuous and quite than the first man.  They saw her eyeing them subtly with a practiced eye, and at length she drew away for a few moments, finally reappearing with two long dresses.  She came right up to them and held them up to Rose with only two words: "Try these."

Surprised the tall redhead took them and held them up for examination.  One was a deep purple velvet, off-the-shoulders and coming to the middle of her thigh.  The other one was a dark blue, closely-fitted dress. 

Rose turned to thank the woman, but she had disappeared again.  Mystified, she left Lily and Mary to go to the fitting rooms.

She tried on both, looking at the price tags before allowing herself to form an opinion, though the Potters had given her a bit of money for Christmas, so there would be few dresses she wouldn't be able to afford.  But in the end she chose the second one-it was both at a better price and looked better on her.  Standing before the mirror, she admired how the fabric at the top pulled toward her left shoulder, tucking over a stiff, studded band that circled her neck and crossed in the back as a strap.  The hem ended around her ankles, and a slit rose up over her right leg, overlapping and twisting into a knotted starburst over her thigh.

When she came out with the blue dress folded carefully over her arm, she found her sisters debating avidly.  Lily had found a pretty chiffon dress with three straps going down the back, and Mary was looking at it like it was a diseased enemy.

"Go on, Mary, it won't kill you to wear it for one night!" she pleaded holding it out to her, but Mary shook her head and backed up to the rack behind her, hands firmly clasped behind her back.

"I know I have to wear a dress, but I'm not going to wear something like_ that_-I'd look like some little girl going to tea-"

"You would _not!"_

Rose cleared her throat by way of announcing her presence.  Both of her sisters turned to her, surprised.

"Oh, did you choose one? Awesome, that'll look great on you, and now you can help me convince Mary to at least try this on-"

"Actually, our little elf seems to be on a quest for her," interrupted Rose, nodding toward the short witch from before who had been lurking nearby, and was now wobbling off.  "Let's se if she can procure anything that meets Mary's approval." She smiled teasingly at her younger sister.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, as they wandered around another row, the saleswoman waddled up to them with a red dress, thrust it up into Mary's surprised fingers, looked her up and down once, nodded her satisfaction, and wandered away.

Lily bit her lip, trying not to laugh.  Once she had control, she said, attempting to be businesslike, "Well, what do you think of it?"

Mary's face was screwed up as she slowly rotated the dress around: though the back dropped into a very deep V, the front was rounded high at the chest.  The dress ended just above Mary's knees, but an extended sash fell out of the bottom of the V, going past the hem to the middle of her calf.  "I guessit isn't _too_ bad..."

"I owe Remus a blueberry pie for Christmas," Lily muttered.  "Well, go try it on-"

But Mary made a sputtering noise and held her ground.  "You made a bet about whether I would get a dress or not?"

"Oh no, I knew you were getting a dress.  The bet was over whether or not you would actually _like _it."

Mary had a few alterations done, and with their purchases securely wrapped under their cloaks, head bent under the fierce wind as they made their way up the street to Zonko's to meet their rendezvous with the boys.

Friday, March 25th, moved past at its same steady rate for Lily, but only for her, it seemed.

"At last!" sighed Gertrude Smith, a Ravenclaw whom Lily doubled Herbology with, as the last bell of the day rang through the greenhouses.  "I swear every class today lasted at least three hours."

"I know! Professor Middleton just told us to study the formulas we've been working on while he went around the class, trying to ask people who they were going with, or if they knew why so and-so wasn't taking that girl…." Jemina Myll shook her head in disgust as she rinsed the dirt from her carefully rounded orange fingernails, standing between Gertrude and Lily, the latter of whom listened to their conversation with detached amusement. 

"So did Gilbert ask you?"

"Yes! I was so relieved, I mean, I wouldn't have dared to go alone, everyone would have been staring at me-"

Lily tried and failed to hold back a snort of laughter.  Jemina turned to her in surprise, as though just noticing her.  "Of course, you had no worries, did you, Lily?"

Gertrude turned to her also, interested.  "You're still with that Slytherin boy, are you?"

Lily nodded, a small, amused smile at her lips.  Gertrude shook her head in amazement, muttering something about blind love.

"And of course your sister is going with Potter," Jemina added, pulling her bag to her shoulder.  "That's a given.  But you know, people were just as sure that you and the other Potter-James-would be a couple."

"Sometimes life surprises you," Lily said breezily, drying her hands off.  It wasn't the first time she had heard such a comment about herself and James.

"And that was one hell of a surprise," Gertrude said under her breath.

Jemina shook her head.  "I honestly don't understand how you were able to resist him."

"There was nothing to resist!" Lily exclaimed.  Both girls stared, nonplussed.  "Well, I suppose he's cute enough, but we've never felt that way about each other."

"Speak for yourself," Jemina replied as they left the greenhouse.  "The way he was moping after you for weeks after you and that Snape started going out, honestly…."

"What?" said Lily, half laughing.  "No, he wasn't."

Gertrude sighed condescendingly.  "For top of your year, dear, you're quite blind to everything outside the classroom."

The Ravenclaws split ways with her here, and Lily, feeling somewhat insulted, went to catch up with her friends. 

The Dance included dinner, so everyone attending skipped the Great Hall to go to their dorms or wherever else they wanted to spend the few hours before it started.

Lily had just caught sight of David's messy black hair disappearing up a staircase when she felt a touch on her shoulder.  Turning, she found Severus just behind her.

"I'll meet you around here, shall I?" he asked, indicating the area before the Great Hall.

"Oh-I guess so.  What are you wearing, by the way?"

"Robes, I hope."

"Nothing special, of course.  Well, what color are they?"

He raised his eyebrows.  "Take a wild, wild guess."

"Severus! Are you incapable of wearing a color other than black?"

Raising his hands, he countered, "Can you see me in any other color?"

She drooped.  "No."

"There you are, then.  If it makes you feel better, there's a very, very thin band of green around the edges of the sleeves." Severus lifted her chin up with two long fingers.  "It hardly matters what I wear.  You'll be the one stared at…everyone questioning your taste in this dark, misanthropic Slytherin."

She smiled automatically.  But Gertrude's words came back to her, and she too wondered how in the world she had to come to love, so deeply as to forgive and sacrifice so much, Severus Snape.

Alice let Mary into the sixth-year girl dorms where she, Lily, and Rose already were starting to prepare.

"Alice, I commend her into your hands," Lily told her solemnly.  "Good luck."

"And Merlin knows you'll need it," Rose added, stepping from the bathroom wrapped in a towel, having just taken her shower.

Mary made a face.  "I feel so loved."

Looking pleased at a challenge, Alice handed her three bottles.  "Go take a shower.  Use this one first, then that one, and then that after you get out."

"I already took a shower this morning!" Mary protested.

"Go take another.  You won't wash away."

Muttering darkly under her breath, the fifteen-year-old went into the bathroom.  Alice picked up the dress she had brought in, holding it up thoughtfully. 

"It _is_ a pretty dress-it'll go very well with her coloring.  Does she have shoes to match it, Lily?"

"No, but I have some that'll go with it.  Here." Lily pulled a pair of black stilettos out of her trunk and tossed them to the blond.  "Don't know how well she'll do in them, though.  I'm not sure if she's ever worn high heels in her life."

"Sirius won't mind carrying her." Nicole laughed, sitting in a large chair by the window.  She was still in her school robes, her thick, curly hair up in a messy ponytail with her knees drawn up, watching the others.

"Mary would break her ankles first," Rose assured her.

Lily, sitting idly on the side of her bed, also wrapped in a towel, tilted her head to one side.  "Aren't you going, Nicole?"

She shook her head almost proudly.  "Nope."

"Believe me, I _tried_ to convince her," Alice called, brushing out her light hair.  "I had a dress she could have used and everything.  And it's not like no one asked her out, either…"

Nicole shrugged.  "Mary and I seem to share a common soul."

Rose glanced at Alice, who was carefully smoothing out her own pale yellow dress robes.  "You're going with Jason, right?"

She nodded, though not looking up from the dress.  "Yes…I was a bit worried, since he hasn't been talking to me much lately." There was an edge to her voice.  "But when I asked if we were going, to make sure, he just looked surprised and said 'of course'."  She looked up at the redheads and smiled faintly.  'I guess you two don't have any worries with your boyfriends.  That's what it looks like, anyway."

Lily laughed slightly at this misconception.  "Oh, trust me, Severus and I have our share of problems.  Many, recurring problems.  Like viruses."

"Well, you seem to recover well enough." She nodded at the boxes Lily had taken out of her trunk.  "He bought you that whole outfit for Christmas, didn't he? Well, go on, I want to see what you're wearing."

She hesitated, then began unpacking the boxes.  To be perfectly honest, she was a bit nervous about getting dressed in the entire ensemble here, and then walking through the Gryffindor Tower.  Despite how much she liked it and didn't care about the implied house, she knew others-particularly Sirius-would.  And, now, she had to admit it was a bit extreme.  Both money and color-wise.

But she determinedly pulled out the shoes, jewelry, and dress as Rose desperately tried to comprehend the workings of the strap on her dress.

"Argh – Alice, can you help me with this?"

The blond quickly stepped over to give her assistance, and Lily began to get dressed herself as Mary stepped out of the bathroom, her long heavy hair dripping.

At last they were ready, Lily allowing her snake bracelet to wind around her upper arm, Alice giving Mary last-minute instructions on how to walk in high heels.  Rose was nervously crossing and uncrossing her arms and glancing in the mirror to check if her hair was holding up – Alice had used a number of creative charms on both her and Mary's hair, somehow managing to pile it all on top of their heads, and Lily had to admit it made them look much older.  She, of course, was wearing the headdress.

"All right, girls, let's go!" Alice said happily, clapping her hands together once and heading for the door.  She was wearing a simple yellow dress with white shoes, her hair clipped back on either side.  Mary studied how she walked one last time, then turned back to her sisters with a hopeful expression, as though she was wondering if they'd reconsider and decide to just stay here for the rest of the night with Nicole.

"Come on, Mary darling," said Rose, deliberately ignoring her look.  She slipped her arm through Mary's and slowly walked forward, since Mary seemed to feel she was walking on a wire.  At the door she looked back at her older sister, who was still standing by her bed.  "Care to help me support Mary down the stairs?"

"I'll be down in a minute."

They disappeared out the door.  Alone with Nicole, Lily stepped before the mirror again.  Alice had gotten her to let her put a little silver glitter on her eyelids and lips, and she now surveyed the final product, turning to see her back.

"Okay, Lily, you're gorgeous, now go downstairs already," Nicole called from her corner.

She half-smiled.  "I'm not so worried about that…but do you think I'm overdoing it? I mean, the whole green, silver, Slytherin thing?"

Nicole nodded decidedly.  "Yep, you are.  But don't worry about it, you look pretty in green, so go on and pretend nothing's wrong."

She laughed.  "Well, thanks for the honesty." But she paused one last time, considering at least replacing the earrings, but she realized how offended Severus would be.

Taking her time going down the last steps to the common room, she heard the nervous, excited buzz of voices, somewhat more subdued than usual due to the overall formalness of dress.

Lily paused at the door, fingering the side of the dress.  She would just walk straight through and out of the portrait hole and meet her friends later, when they came down to the Great Hall.  And what were they going to do, anyway, chuck buckets of red and gold paint at her? Reassuring herself thus, she pushed open the door.

She had almost made it to the portrait hoe when someone called out behind her.

"Oi! Lily!"

Flinching inwardly, Lily stopped and slowly turned.

The boys and Rose and Mary were sitting and standing respectively by a couch against one wall.  David, in coffee brown robes, was sitting between Rose and Remus, the latter of whom was dressed in dark navy blue.  James was leaning against the end of the sofa in dark forest green.  Peter was sitting at the end, plucking uncomfortably at the grey sleeve of his robes, while Sirius, dressed in red, stood beside Mary.  It was David who had called her, but they all turned now as she slowly approached.

Sirius, of course, was the first to comment.  "My God," he said loudly, disgust quite clear, "you're actually _proud_ of yourself, aren't you?"

Her eyes were the hardest they'd ever been toward him as she replied, "Why shouldn't' I be?" She spun in a quick circle, lifting her arms so her dress flared out, crossing them again as she stopped.  "Remus, is it attractive?"

He nodded, able by some unearthly talent to look neutral as he did so.  "It is-I think so, at least."

Lily turned back to Sirius, her eyebrows arched eloquently.  "And remind me again why I would care for your opinion? Hm? And why aren't you yelling at your best mate James over this? Is it okay for James to wear green, but not me?"

He made no answer, only glared back at her as she turned and flung herself down between Remus and James.

David gave a slight cough.  "Right, now that the customary repartee is over-it is, isn't it?-I was wondering if we could take a few photos?" He held up a camera.

Alice was called over to take the pictures, and the eight assembled themselves.  Rose and David stood together, and Mary decided it was all right if Sirius stood next to her.  Peter, Remus, and James grouped together in a line, and Lily found herself between James and Mary.

Just as Alice handed the camera back to David, a fourth-year brunette in long white robes approached, looking with large, shy eyes at James, who stepped forward awkwardly.

"Hi," the girl breathed, still staring at James.

"Er, hi, Charlotte," he replied, holding out a red rose hesitantly.  She took it slowly, looking at it as though it was made of gold before pinning it to the side of her dress.

For some reason she couldn't explain, Lily felt a rush of impatience and annoyance.  "Come on, let's go downstairs, already." She moved again to the exit.

They came down the last steps before the Great Hall-David escorting Rose, James with Charlotte, and Mary allowing Sirius to walk beside her. 

Lily stopped at the foot of the stairs, scanning the crowd of sixth years for her brooding Slytherin.  It took a moment to spot him: he was leaning against the side wall in his promised black robes-though she was pleased to note the slim green band at the edge of his sleeves-watching the others around him with his usual expressionless face.  Quickly, she stepped toward him, vaguely aware of her friends stopping behind her.  Severus straightened as he saw her, and though he didn't smile, she knew the look in his eyes to be approval.  Stopping before him, she spun around again.

"Is it as good as you imagined?" she asked, catching his hand.

"Better," he said simply.

Smiling happily, she looked back at her friends and a rather idealistic idea struck her.  "Come here," she said suddenly, and surprisingly, he allowed her to lead him back to the group of Gryffindors.

"I have a request," she announced to them all.

Already silent, they waited.  Sirius raised his eyebrows in question.

"Well, I've been looking forward to this night for a while, and I want to have a good time.  But I can't do that with you guys" –she pointed to the boys and Severus- "bickering with each other all night, back and forth.  No one would have a good time that way.  So, I want to collect every favor you have ever owed me, and for just _one _night, I ask you to be civil.  I'm not saying you have to have deep, meaningful conversations.  Just treat each other with some common courtesy, for once in your lives.  Pretend you've never met each other before, so you have to have some degree of politeness.  Can you do it?" She looked to her friends first for a response. 

Laughing, Remus, of course, was the first to respond.  "I believe I could manage it."

There was a pause, and when none of the other Marauders spoke, he gave a little cough and said, "Of course, David, James, Sirius, and Peter will control themselves too, no problem."

His friends glared at him as he gazed ahead innocently, but after scowling sufficiently David sighed.  "One night."

James looked surprised at his brother's resignation.  Finally he shrugged, saying, "As long as I don't have to dance with him."

Peter gave a nervous laugh.  "Same here."

Sirius seemed appalled at finding himself a minority.  After throwing his friends a deeply grieved look, he turned back to Lily with a defiant, liberty-or-death expression.

She gave an indifferent shrug.  "You don't have to agree.  But you'll be sitting by yourself at a different table."

Severus spoke for the first time.  "Oh, let him."

She turned sharply back to him.  "You have to too, you know."

His voice dropped low.  "You're asking for a lot, Lily."

"I know."

For a moment he was silent, looking at the five Gryffindors.  Then he turned away, pushing back his hair.  "All right.  One night-for you and your sisters."

At that Sirius let out an angry exclamation.  "Fine, if he can do it…I just won't talk to him at all.  Is that good enough for you?"

"Quite."

At this point Charlotte, who had been standing next to James, spoke up.  "Wait-I thought we were all going to be sitting at different tables-like each couple together…."

"Oh, no," said James, clearly alarmed at the idea.  "No, we'll all be sitting together.  At one big table.  Wouldn't be fair to Remus to Peter otherwise."

"Yeah," said Sirius, counting, "all – ten of us."

"Is that possible?" Peter wondered.

"Oh, yeah," Rose assured him.  "I heard from a seventh year that the ghosts seat you, and you just tell them how many is in your party."

Charlotte looked terribly disappointed.

The area before the Great Hall was gradually emptying as students were taken inside.  As they approached the open doors, the Grey Lady floated up.  "How many?"

"All of us – ten."

They followed h er through the suitably dim Hall to a large table.  James, Sirius, David, and Severus each pulled out a chair for their dates, and though Remus offered to help Peter into one, the latter gave him an appropriately odd look.

Severus was strategically between Lily and Rose, with David beside Rose, then Remus, Peter, Sirius, Mary, Charlotte, and James, who was next to Lily.  Menus were found on top of their plates, and James explained to the girls all there was to it was telling your plate your choice.

Dinner began actually quite smoothly.  The boys just avoided talking to Severus altogether, despite the girls' (except Charlotte, of course) efforts to engage them in some form of conversation.

All went well until Sirius found that he needed salt for his jello.  "Pass the-" he began, glancing around to see in whose vicinity the salt resided, and stopped dead when he saw it next to Snape's plate.  "Er – Lily, could you-"

She flatly picked up the shaker and set it directly in front of Severus's plate.

"Damn it, girl – er – actually, nevermind, I don't need it that badly after all."

"Sirius, just ask for the bloody salt," snapped Mary.

"Will you dance with me if I do?" he asked quickly. 

She hesitated for a fraction of a second, then sighed, "It's worth it.  I'll dance with you."

Looking delighted, Sirius turned back to the boy across from him.  "Snape-" But, for the first time in Lily's memory, his nerve failed him and he stopped, looking slightly sick.  After a moment, he tried again.  "Snape – would you – passesalt?"

"What's the magic word?" Lily snapped before Severus could do anything.

_"Accio!"___

Mary caught the salt midair and tossed it back to the other end of the table.  "Say it or the deal's off."

Sirius groaned.  "This is cruel – Snape, will you pass the salt – peas?"

Severus smirked, clearly enjoying this.  "I'm afraid I didn't quite catch that last part, Mr.  Black."

"Lil!" He appealed to the girl on Snape's left.  "He's breaking the rules!"

"Actually, he's being more polite than you are, calling you Mr.  Black."

"Sirius, if you don't say it right…" Mary warned.

Clearly sure the world despised him, he closed his eyes for a moment.  Suddenly, reopening them, he smiled his most charming, his most enamoring smile – one that very, very few could resist, though his eyes mocked it, like his voice.  "_Mr._Snape, would you be so kind as to please pass the salt?"

Lily started clapping, which everyone else at the table quickly picked up on, except for Severus, who only returned a smile, though it held none of Sirius's charm, only seemed to reflect his eyes, and without looking away he handed the salt to Rose, who passed it around the circle.

As he added liberal amounts of salt to his jello, Sirius remarked, "You know, Lily, you really owe us for this.  And I mean really."

She winced.  "What do you want?"

He laughed.  It was frightening.  "We'll see.  But part of it is a simple request: each of us – being me, Prongs, Wormtail, Pronghorn (if he doesn't spend the entire night attached to Rose), and Moony – get one dance.  At least."

Surprised, she told him, "You didn't have to demand it.  All of you – well, except yourself – have a right to one."

"Ah, but did you stop to consider that perhaps Mr.  Snape might object?" he questioned, pointing with his fork toward him.  "But now you have to – and don't worry, I don't want mine."

"Or mine," Peter added.  "I'd rather not embarrass myself, and I'll leave your foot bones intact."

"I appreciate it, Peter.  So do you three have any objections?"

Remus and David shook their heads, and James turned inquiringly to Charlotte.  "Do you mind?"

She shook her head.  "No, I understand you're friends…I don't mind one dance."

Lily sighed.  "All right, then.  One for James, one for David, and two for Remus." She winked at him.  "If Severus doesn't mind – do you?"

He frowned slightly but shook his head.

The desserts were finished, a large space cleared in the middle of the floor, and the music began.  Suddenly, the relaxed atmosphere at their table was replaced by a more awkward one.  For a few minutes no one moved, nervously watching the few boldest couples move out to the dance floor.  Then David rose suddenly, extending his hand to Rose, who accepted it, and they left.  Severus pulled Lily out of her seat, and they headed to the dance floor.  Next, James hesitantly asked Charlotte, who accepted in a daze.  This left Remus, Peter, Sirius, and Mary; the last of these became extremely interested in the bracelet Alice had lent her. 

"Mary, you did promise."

"I know," she said quickly.  "But not this song."

He sighed despondently.

Lily was discovering what kind of dancer Severus was, exactly.  She wasn't really surprised; he had a smooth, gliding rhythm that involved a lot of direct contact.  She adapted to it, moving to the music and his hands on her hips.  Out of the corner of her eye she saw Rose and David together, fitting each other perfectly, and then James and Charlotte, maintaining a shy distance.

Four songs later, Severus took a break as Remus had his turn with Lily, sitting next to Mary, who was still refusing to dance.  He watched as a pretty Hufflepuff approached Sirius.

"Want to dance?" she offered.

He shook his head casually.  "I'm taken."

"You haven't danced yet," she pointed out.

"Well, I haven't liked any of the songs yet.  When I do, I'll have a partner, thank you.  But I have a friend named Peter-he's somewhere in that direction-"

"No thanks." She went off in a huff.  Sirius turned back to Mary.

"Mary, that's the sixth one, I'm not going to keep refusing-"

"I haven't liked any of the songs yet."

He rested his head down on the table for a second, then looking back up he warned, "I'm about to go dance with Peter."

"You go do that."

He stayed where he was, of course.  A malicious idea occurred to Severus, and after a few minutes passed he said to Mary offhandedly, "I believe Remus has taken Lily for the next song.  Do you want to try it with me?"

"All right," she said absentmindedly.

Sirius whirled to look at her, incredulity and something else – hurt? – written over his face.  He didn't need to say anything: Mary realized a second after her words the offense they would carry to him.  But Sirius didn't let her say anything either – quite smoothly he stood and walked away in the direction the Hufflepuff girl had gone.

"Sirius – wait-" Mary jumped to her feet guiltily.  As he didn't stop, she turned to Severus.  "Damn it, Severus, you did that on purpose, didn't you?"

He raised his eyebrows innocently.  "I did nothing except ask you for a dance, Mary."

"You bastard," she sighed with the same tone James uses with Sirius in saying those same words, pushing back her chair.

"So I've been told."

Rather gingerly she hurried after Sirius in her heels, who was still walking away, apparently in search of one of the girls who had asked him to dance.  "Sirius, just wait a minute."

He did stop, to her surprise, and turned to face her as she caught up.  "No, actually, I don't want to dance with you.  Nevermind.  You'd dance with _Snape _before _me_, and I don't care if you're friends, if that's where I am on the scale, then no, forget it.  I'm sorry I wasted my evening so far.  See you later."

Such a speech might have intimidated either of her sisters into silence and letting him walk away again, but Mary was his equal.  She grabbed his arm forcefully as he started to turn.  "_Listen_, you dumbass.  Stop overreacting.  It's not that I would dance with Severus before you and you know that fully well.  He just happened to ask me casually enough and I think of him more as a brother – or a distant cousin.  Besides, I promised you I'd dance, so _I will."_ She glared at him defiantly.

For a moment Sirius didn't reply, studying her face.  Then he smiled.  "When?"

"When?"

"How about now?" The music had stopped, and there was a pause while people applauded. 

"Now?'

"Yes.  Now." Taking her by the shoulders, he guided her onto the dance floor as the music began again.

"Erm, Sirius-" Mary was starting to feel just a bit nervous.

"What are you so scared of?"

"My shoes?"

"I won't let you fall.  Have you danced before?"

"No.  Well, I have, but it was over a decade ago and with my sisters on our parents' bed-"

"Oh, don't worry, it's easy, see? Especially when you're dancing with Sirius."

Fortunately, the song was a simple one, and she wasn't required to do much moving, but she gradually caught the beat.  Sirius was very graceful, more than compensating for her inexperience.  It was more of his dancing in a circle around her, really.  As she stopped worrying about her feet, she became more conscious of his hands: at her shoulder, waist, touching her arm briefly before – oh, Merlin, why did she ever let Lily buy her a dress with such a low-cut back? Sirius was smiling slightly, with his dark hair curving into his face, and she couldn't look away from his eyes, and why did the song have to be so slow now, and she had never before realized how beautiful he really was, and she must be possessed to be thinking all of this, and undoubtedly he could tell exactly what she was feeling, it had to be written all over her face.

"It's not so bad, is it?" he asked softly, still looking into her eyes.

Mary had no idea what he was referring to.

As the song ended, Lily kissed Remus lightly on the cheek, and they walked back to their dinner table to meet the others again.  Severus was sitting alone when they reached it, but then Mary and Sirius appeared.  Mary dropped into a chair with a thud.  Lily looked at her curiously; she was a bit paler than usual and her eyes were wide, staring ahead.  Sirius, on the other hand, seemed to be trying to portray his usual careless air, but there was something odd added to it, and he noticed he couldn't stop watching Mary's face for more than a few seconds.

Severus, too, was looking at her with interest.  "Was it really that traumatic an experience?"

She didn't answer.  He pushed a full glass of punch toward her – she looked at it blankly for a moment before picking it up and downing it.  James and Charlotte, closely followed by Rose and David, came up.  Rose saw Mary, then glanced at Lily questioningly.  Lily shrugged.

"Where's Peter?" James asked, sitting next to Mary.

Sirius gave a would-be-careless half-shrug.  "He said something about going down to the kitchens for more of that pudding."

David laughed.  James stretched his arms and said, "You know, I think I'm going to sit this next one out – take a little break."

Charlotte made a small noise of agreement and sat down too.  Lily offered her hand to David.  "Want yours?"

"All right," he said easily.  Surprisingly, Severus stood and extended his own hand to Rose. 

"I assume you'll have no objections?"

"Oh, sure," she said, caught off guard but compliant.

"What?" said David quickly, stopping where he was and looking from his girlfriend to Snape.

"It's only fair, Potter.  You dance with my girl, I dance with yours."

"No.  I mean – no.  Rose, you don't have to."

She shrugged.  "I don't mind."

"But – I don't have to dance with Lily."

Rose gave an exasperated sigh.  "David, it's no big deal.  You wouldn't take a second glance if it was Sirius or your brother-"

"There's a slight difference between them and – _him_."

"Only slight," Severus returned.  "Those are her friends, and so am I, to her." Rose nodded in agreement.

"Come on, David, learn to share," Lily said impatiently, pulling him by the arm.

But the dance was somewhat flawed by how David kept twisting his head around to see what Rose and Snape were doing.  Lily poked him.

"You can at least credit him with being able to tell my sister and me apart.  After all, he doesn't mind you dancing with me."

"I've known you longer than he has."

"And you've known him longer than either of us."

                "Exactly," said David darkly, twisting around yet again.

When the music finished, he beelined for Rose.  Shaking her head, Lily wandered back to her table, where she saw Mary and Sirius had apparently chosen not to dance again.  James stood up as she came near.

"I believe this is my turn."

Behind him, Lily noticed Severus frown and make a slight motion, as though about to object.  "It's the last one, Severus, and I promised.  After this I'm all yours."

It was clear he was not appeased by far, but he said nothing.  He wasn't the only one discontent: Charlotte looked crestfallen.  But Lily and James left with Rose and David – reunited at last – for the dance floor.

And Practical Magic, after lying dormant with Lily's potion for nearly nine years, began to stir.

The band started up once more, and James took her gently by her bare shoulders.  She absentmindedly looped her hands around the back of his neck, as she had done briefly with his brother, registering in some corner of her mind the roughness of his hands in contrast to Severus's.  Probably due to a number of Filibuster Fireworks exploding prematurely.  But while Severus's were smoother, they were also…harder, for lack of a better adjective.  Less gentle.  Several times she had found bruises on her knuckles where he had squeezed too hard.

As the song progressed, Lily realized something was profoundly different between this dance with James and the previous few with David and Remus.  She didn't know what it was - just some unknown quantity.  It disturbed her, making what should have been a comfortable silence awkward.  She looked up at him, wondering if he felt it too, but for once she couldn't read his face.  The silence very strained now, she tried conversation.

                "So how's Charlotte?"

He shrugged.  "All right, I guess.  A bit fawning, to tell the truth."

"Well, of course she is.  She's the date of James Potter, Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, Marauder, and almost-but-not-quite top of the year." She smirked teasingly.  "Any girl here would be a bit dazed to get asked by you."

"Any girl, eh? What about you?"

Caught off guard, Lily smiled uncertainly, puzzled and unsure of his meaning.  She replied finally, "I think I know you a bit too well to be in awe." He laughed.

After that, Lily could think of nothing else to say, and the awkwardness – to her, at least – was hardly dispelled.  The song lasted a few more hours, with an odd sort of shiver running down her spine every time his fingers touched her skin.  She couldn't understand it.  The idea of her feeling something besides friendship toward James never crossed her mind.  She was in love with Severus.  She knew this as surely as she knew her sister and David were in love, and James and Sirius were best friends.  It was never to be doubted.  Therefore, that idea never came near her. 

The last few beats sounded, and Lily took a step away perhaps a little too quickly.  But James just gave her a funny half-smile, and they separated.  Lily walked slowly around the edge of the cleared area, not thinking about where she was going, occupied with trying to analyze what had just happened.  Severus appeared suddenly beside her.

"Are you all right? You look somewhat…"

She forced a smile.  "Of course I'm all right.  Erm, do you want to dance again?"

His sharp eyes searched her face.  "Actually, I thought we might leave early."

"Now? All right, I suppose.  Just let me go tell Rose and Mary I'm going."

She found her sisters and David and Sirius sitting and talking where she had left them.  "Rose, Severus and I are going to leave now."

"Will we ever see you again?" David wondered.

"Don't be stupid – okay, Rose?" She glanced at Mary, who shrugged carelessly.  But Lily saw a little flicker of worry go through Rose's eyes, and she bent closer to her as she whispered,

"Lily – remember your promise-"

"Of course.  Don't worry."

All the same, they didn't see her again in the Gryffindor common room until late Sunday night.

Things continued in the same way they had before: the Marauders preoccupied with their own business, and Lily, except for Remus and James, had little to do with them.  Severus persisted his harassment of the boys, and though they complained to Lily, loudly and often, they knew she couldn't help it. 

Upon inquiry, Mary told Lily that she and Sirius had danced one more time that night.

"And…" Lily made a waiting, expectant motion, accompanied with a matching expression.

Mary's face was carefully blank.  "And what? It was a dance.  Just…a dance.  "

Lily blew out her breath and resisted the temptation to take Mary by the shoulders and shake her.  "A dance.  Right.  Mary, I don't understand this.  You like him, don't you? And everyone knows he likes you.  Why are you denying it? What are you scared of? You've seen what relationships are like – each extreme.  Perfect ones like Rose and David's, and ones that are – a bit harder, like Severus and me.  You can see that we're both happy, in our own way, despite all the difficulties.  And honestly, Mary, it's like you and Sirius were _created_ for each other.  What's the problem? Do you think I'd disapprove because I happen to think he's an absolute cretin? If I did, I'd be a hypocrite.  I know you hated Severus when we started dating-"

"OKAY!" Mary almost shouted, raising her hands.  "Okay, Lily.  Calm Down.  Please.  It's not that big of a deal, I promise.  There's…a lot of reasons why I don't want to date Sirius right now."

Lily studied her hard.  "Are you sure? I mean, I just want you to be happy, and not spend the rest of your life regretting that you never took the chance, and obviously you really want me to shut up now, so yeah." Mary smiled and didn't contradict her.

Sirius, however, to Lily's surprise at least, didn't pursue Mary in any way after the night of the dance.  He couldn't possibly be content.  But Lily left it alone for them to deal with.  True, she didn't think Sirius deserved her sister, but she knew Mary had to have felt the same way about Severus.  Therefore, she kept her lips closed.

The Easter holidays were approaching.  They were all staying, for no particular reason, except for the Marauders, because the full moon was the first night of the holidays.

But the day before, Severus was waiting outside the library for Lily, who was returning and picking up a few books.  He was staring out of the wide window opposite the library doors when he heard his name. 

"Snape."

He turned, already knowing who it was.  Black was striding down the hall toward him, with the familiar almost-smile that meant he was out for trouble.  To Severus, it just meant to keep your wand ready.

"Why, Mr.  Black.  How unpleasant to come across you again," Severus remarked, in a would-be courteous tone.

Black held up his hands, as though to say "hey, I'm unarmed." "All I want is a word, Snape.  That's all.  A proposal."

"Oh, excellent, I need a laugh."

He maintained his arrogant smirk.  "Just hear me out.  So you want to know what we're up to these nights.  Frankly, we're getting tired of you following us around – it's _almost_ a hindrance.  So look, I'm just trying to make it easier for you." He moved to the window, pointing to the grounds.  "See the Whomping Willow? There's a knot on the side of the trunk.  Tomorrow night you go and get a branch or something to push it, and the tree stops moving completely.  For only about ten seconds or so, but it's enough time to reach the trunk, where there's a large hole – big enough to slip through.  You'll land in a tunnel, and at the end is our big, dark secret." Black grinned broadly.

Severus stared at him.  "So Lily really does do all your work."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, from your marks, most people would assume you really are intelligent."

Black flushed slightly.  "So don't accept my help.  I don't care."

"No, let's just ponder all the holes in this for a moment.  First, it could be an attempt to have the Whomping Willow maim me while I try to reach the trunk.  Or McGonagall or Filch could simply be waiting for me there.  And why, pray tell, do you say it has to be _tomorrow _night? Some special extra peril then?"

To his surprise, Black laughed.  "I knew you'd say that."

"What? Is this the part where you accuse me of cowardice so I'm forced to go to disprove you? You mistake me for a Gryffindor, Black."

"No," he cut in.  "No, I was going to say I knew you'd assume it was a trap and therefore not go, finally leaving us in peace.  Ironic, isn't it? By finally telling you, it gets you off our backs.  It all works out." He started to turn away, but then seemed to remember something.  "Oh, about your last question – it only works certain nights.  If you go there some other time, it'll be empty." With that, he sauntered off.

Lily came out of the library with a couple new books just in time to see Sirius go round the corner.  She looked from him to Severus.  "Severus? What did he want?"

He hesitated, glancing from her to where Black had disappeared.  "Nothing."

**Author notes: **If anyone's interested, owl me at originaliamnotearthlink.net to get pictures of Rose and Mary's dresses for the Sixth Year Dance.  Sorry, Lily's I invented.


	18. Part Three of Book Seven

**_Part Three_**

The next night Sirius, James, and David sat at a table by a window.  Remus had left much earlier for the Shrieking Shack, the girls had gone to bed, and Peter was taking a short nap before the left to meet Remus.

James was watching Sirius with mingled amusement and curiosity.  They were all working on their Astronomy charts, but Sirius seemed even more inattentive and impatient than usual to leave.  He would tap his quill against the graffitied wooden table, looking restlessly against the room, and every few  minutes lean over to look out the window.

"What are you on about, Padfoot?" James finally asked him.  But Sirius was looking out the window again, this time far more intently than any time before.  He held up his forefinger as James spoke, and after a moment or two let his chair fall forward to all four legs, shouting, "HA!" and clapping his hands together once.

"What? What is it?" David asked, half-laughing.

Sirius grinned in triumphant delight.  "Snape took the bait, I _knew_ he would!"

"Padfoot, what are you _talking _about?"

He sighed.  "Look, you know how we were getting sick of Snape trying to follow us every full moon? Well, the other day I decided to give him what he wanted – I told him to press the knot on the Whomping Willow, and if he went tonight, he'd find out what we were hiding."

"You did _what?"_ David stared, incredulous.

"And he did it.  I just saw him go under the tree." Sirius was clearly proud of himself.

James, however, was looking at him as though he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.  Then he stood, pulling David up with him.  "Come on."

With James leading, they darted out of the portrait hole and ran down the seven floors.  David wasn't quite sure why they were doing what they were doing.  He figured he would ask James later.

"Shouldn't we have our Invisibility Cloaks?" he whispered as they raced down the stairs to the third floor

"No time," his brother grunted in reply.

Amazingly, neither Peeves, Filch, nor Mrs.  Norris were in their path.  They didn't pause at the front doors, but James slammed through, down the steps, and onto the grounds, where they veered toward the Whomping Willow, praying no teachers were looking out a window, as they were in plain view.  There they stopped before the branches, which were already waving menacingly at them.

"We don't have Peter with us," David reminded him, panting.  "I don't – _James, are you mad?"_

James had stopped, apparently, only to calculate the tree's position, for he suddenly darted forward through the branches, twisting this way and that, until finally he leaped headlong toward the trunk, slamming his hand against the knot.  The heavy branches froze, one a foot from his head.

David found his voice.  "Merlin," he said weakly.  "You couldn't do that again in-"

"Just get over here." James had scrambled back to his feet, helping David down the slope before leaping after him.  Then they were running again, but at a crouch.  As the ceiling rose enough for them to straighten, they heard cautious footsteps ahead, and finally glimpsed a black cloak.

"Severus!"

Snape whirled around, his black eyes flashing.

Many years ago, there had been a time that the boys and he had not been on a surname basis.  In the few months after they met in Diagon Alley, all aged eight, Sirius, James, David, and Severus were not exactly friends, but they knew each other and spoke occasionally.  It wasn't until Severus deliberately ruined a joke they had been planning against a certain storeowner, and thus getting all three into Very Big Trouble, that Sirius initiated the last-name-acquaintance.  Since that day, they had never spoken their first names again – to each other or anyone else.  Until now.

James and David finally stopped before him, panting, David clutching a stitch in his side.  It was James who had spoken, and now he repeated, "Severus – don't – you don't understand, this is a mistake-"

Recovering from his shock, Snape laughed.  "Oh yes, this is a mistake.  You never thought I'd really do it, did you?"

"No-" But even as James said it forcefully, he realized how pointless it was.  How could he convince him to turn back without giving away Remus's secret? "Look – this isn't a game, I'm serious-"

"I'm sure you are."

"Damn it, just listen to me!" he shouted, but Snape merely raised his eyebrow at him.

"No, Potter.  Your friend made a very bad underestimation, and now it's going to cost you." With that, he turned and ran down the earth floor toward the opening into the house.

"NO!" Desperate, the brothers sprinted after him, but he wasn't already tired, and though adrenaline pushed them on, they didn't catch up until he was already in the Shrieking Shack – standing before an open door to the right, face to face with Remus.   

Severus had expected a great number of things.  He had considered anything from a baby dragon to an erumpent, and if there was one, or anything in between, he would not have frozen up.  He was not unprepared for a wolf.  But a werewolf - that he did not think of.  For it explained, as he realized almost instantly, the absence of Lupin.  And it was in the knowledge that Lupin – kind, calm, reasonable Lupin, whom he had always grudgingly admitted was the best of the group – was in fact the real monster, that made him freeze.

The werewolf growled and crouched, about to spring.  At that moment two hands grabbed the back of his robes, pulling him forcefully backwards – hitting the ground, he rolled to his feet and ran out.

But Remus had already sprung, and now that Snape was no longer there, the only ones left were James and David. 

They leapt back, startled, but David wasn't quite quick enough.  Remus's right paw hit him square in the chest, knocking him to the ground, and his teeth snapped at his hand as he jerked it back – white-hot pain seared through the back of it.

"DAVID!"

In an instant, James transformed, and with a mighty kick Remus was thrown back into the room.  James kicked the door shut, and transforming back to himself, locked it heavily before rushing to his brother, who was gritting his teeth and gripping his right hand, leaning against the wooden wall.  James dropped down in front of him, his blood running cold as he saw David's face pale, already covered in a cold sweat.  It took a minute to pry David's left hand off his other – then he saw three jagged red, deep lines running down the back of his hand.  He swore fiercely.

"If you're a werewolf, I swear I'll kill Sirius."

It was a sign of how much pain David was in by how he didn't answer; his eyes were still squeezed tightly shut, his left hand clenched in a fist as James examined the right one.  James's own hands shook as he looked at the cuts.  Remus had insisted that they study werewolf injuries, and now he tried to see how deep they were, if they had reached a vein.   After a few minutes, he was satisfied that they had not pierced a vein.  It had to have been a miss by a quarter of an inch.  James closed his eyes, his heartbeat finally slowing.  Then he quickly stripped off his robes and pulled off his undershirt, tearing it into strips and binding them around David's hand.  David finally seemed to have relaxed some: his eyes were open, though a bit glazed, and he didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular.

"David?" James gripped his shoulder.  "You okay? You think you can walk?"

David's eyes managed to focus on his brother.  "It's my hand, not my foot," he said tightly.  

Grasping his arm, James hoisted him to his feet.  On the other side of the door, Remus had woken up and started howling, clawing at some unfortunate piece of furniture.  David said nothing, cradling his left hand.  James put his arm under his shoulders, supporting him as they slowly started walking back down the tunnel.  Neither said anything, but moved very slowly, James watching David anxiously as he stared down at the ground. 

Finally, about three-quarters of the way back, David asked quietly, still looking at the earthen floor, "Why did you want to stop Snape?"

James stared at him, wondering if his brother hated him.  After a moment he answered, a bit hesitantly, "I-I just couldn't let him be _killed_, David.  And you know Remus would have unless someone was there to stop him…"

There was silence for a moment, then David spoke again.  "Sirius didn't care.  Why…"

"Oh.  Well – I don't know.  You know Lily loves him, and she would have been really upset.  She would have hated Sirius forever, and Rose and Mary would have been upset too, plus the school, once they found out…" he trailed off.  They didn't speak again, walking on in silence to the slope up to the tree.  James scrambled up to hit the knot, but he had just raised his head up when he quickly lowered it again.  "Shit – McGonagall's there."

For the first time David looked up.  "Where?"

"Waiting right by the tree."

They stared at each other, then David lowered his head again bitterly.  "Snape.  He has some way of showing his gratitude."

There was nothing for it.  David stuffed his injured hand in his robes pocket, and James went up first, hitting the knot, then turning to help David up, blocking McGonagall's view of him as he did.  Their professor did not move or speak until they had fully stood up.

"Come with me, both of you," she said icily.  They followed her up to the castle, where she led them up past her office toward Gryffindor Tower.  At the portrait hole she gave the password, told them to wait there, and went in, shortly returning with Sirius in tow.  He looked at them, outwardly maintaining his carefree look of oh-so-we're-in-trouble-again-wonder-what's-for-supper, but he shot them a privately baffled look, asking what happened.  James looked at him blankly; David refused to look at him at all, but stared at the ground some more.

Professor McGonagall strode through the halls, and eventually James realized they were headed for Dumbledore's office.  Sure enough, they were taken to the gargoyle and up the circular stairs to the door, where she rapped the griffin knocker sharply. 

"Come in," came the headmaster's voice, and for one of the few times in James's hearing, it sounded serious.

She led them in, James first, then David and Sirius, and they saw Dumbledore sitting behind his desk, hands folded upon it, all his odd instruments silent and portraits of his predecessors sleeping, except for a couple who watched through almost-closed eyes.  Snape sat in a chair at the corner, even paler than usual, his eyes glittering as he sat up straight in his chair, watching the newcomers almost eagerly.  There were three chairs by the other corner of Dumbledore's desk, and the Gryffindors took them, David in the middle, McGonagall standing in the back.

Dumbledore turned to James, David, and Sirius, his eyes unusually grave.  "Mr.  Snape came to Professor McGonagall and myself tonight claiming you, with Mr.  Lupin, attempted to murder him.  Please explain yourself."

James took a deep breath.  He had expected something like this, and all the way through the castle had tried to think up a believable story.  It wouldn't have to be too hard…the truth (mostly) would do, since it wouldn't get them into any more trouble than they already were.  Now, he had seen David staring at the bottom of Dumbledore's desk, obviously concentrating on not letting the pain show in his face, and Sirius had turned sullen, slouching back in his seat with his arms crossed.  With a grim feeling in his stomach, James realized it was up to him.

"No, we weren't trying to _kill_ him.  It was just a – prank – an idea of Sirius's." He knew there was no point in not telling Dumbledore that, anyway; he knew them well enough to know who would have come up with something like that.  "Of course we knew Remus was a werewolf, and he had told us where he was going once a month, and Snape here kept trying to follow him, and well, we didn't want it spread all over the school, so Sirius decided just to – er – show him.  But David and I decided to go make sure Remus didn't hurt him, since we, erm, knew how to subdue werewolves.  We almost got there too late, though."

Dumbledore continued to study him for several minutes, his hands folded in front of him, elbows on the desk, looking directly into James's face so that he felt as though Dumbledore knew about everything, including how they were Animagi.  It was most uncomfortable.  Finally the headmaster turned to Snape. 

"You see, Mr.  Snape?"

Snape was seething.  "You can't – actually – _believe_ that, Professor! They knew what they were doing! Black _meant_ for me to be killed, he did-"

"All the same, Mr.  Potters here did save you," Dumbledore said calmly.  Snape spasmed slightly when he said "save," turning an old yellow color, looking like he might be sick.  But Dumbledore turned back to Sirius.

"But that was an extremely dangerous trick, Mr.  Black.  Someone of your intelligence had to have know the possible consequences.  You did indeed know what you were risking Mr.  Snape to.  Therefore, I take two hundred points from Gryffindor, you are suspended from Hogwarts for a week, and are banned from the Gryffindor Quidditch team for the remainder of your years at Hogwarts."

It wasn't until the last punishment was stated that Sirius looked somewhat shocked.  "Professor – _ban _me? But you can't – Gryffindor has a game at the end of this month, and we don't have a reserve Beater-"

"I am afraid, Mr.  Black, that is just another consequence of your actions."

Snape, after throwing Black a maliciously gloating look, appeared angry again.  "Professor, this isn't a matter of _house points _– I could easily be dead right now, would you be taking _points_ away then?"

"Fortunately, Mr.  Snape, that scenario does not need to be considered, as Mr.  Potters have intervened.  But, as Mr.  Lupin's lycanthropy is a highly confidential matter, I must ask you to swear to me that you will tell absolutely no one, in this school or outside of it, about it.  Do I have your word?"

Dumbledore's piercing gaze rested upon him.  For a moment Snape hesitated, looking defiant, then gave in.  "Yes.  I swear I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you.  Mr.  Black, I will arrange for transportation to take you home tomorrow at noon, and you will receive an owl informing you of when you may return.  You and Mr.  Snape are dismissed.  Professor McGonagall, would you please escort Mr.  Black back to his tower?" She led the two boys out, leaving James and David with Dumbledore.

"Now, in this comparative privacy, I was wondering if there was anything else you wanted to tell me."

James shook his head quickly.  They needed to leave soon; he could see a dark stain growing on the side of David's robes where his right hand was.

There was a moment of silence, until finally David too looked up at him.  Then Dumbledore spoke quietly.  "I do understand the weight of your action in saving Severus Snape.  Both of you will receive 50 points to Gryffindor." The twins looked at each other, dumbfounded.  "You may go."

As they walked back to their Tower, David remained silent, and James was busy replaying everything that had happened in the headmaster's office, admiring Dumbledore's diplomacy.  Everything he had said to Sirius had been carefully designed for a specific reason: the points deducted to quell Snape's anger, at least partially; the Quidditch ban to really punish him; and the suspension, most important of all, was to give everyone – Snape, he, James, David, Remus (his stomach did a funny squirm at he thought of telling him tomorrow morning), Peter, and the girls (oh, shit, _Lily_) – time to cool off with Sirius far, far away.  Even his request to have McGonagall escort Sirius and not Snape back to their houses, while making sure there wasn't a complete murder directly outside his door, was also a calculated insult to Sirius.

Back in the sixth year boys' dorm, they found Peter still asleep, snoring as usual, and Sirius still up in his robes, leaning against the wall by the window, still trying to feign his unconcerned attitude, but his foot, tapping nervously against the floor, betrayed him.

"Two hundred points, right? Ouch.  Well, if you win the next game, it'll take care of most of it – that is, if we don't forfeit first because we only have one Beater.  I don't know, maybe you can convince Nicole to play again, James.  But I bet the old bastard will make sure we lose the House Cup this year somehow – _fuck_, David, what happened?"

James and David had ignored his babbling, James having gone to Remus's trunk, looking for a number of healing ointments and salves that he kept for the morning after the full moon, including a few to make cuts unnoticeable.  Having found the ones he was looking for, James had taken them over to where David was with a bowl of water, and he had unwrapped the makeshift bandages, which were already soaked through, whereupon Sirius had noticed and made his shocked inquiry.

David did not answer, keeping his head down over the bowl, dipping his hand in the water and flinching a little at the coldness.  Again, James took up his post as spokesman.

"We didn't get there until Snape had already reached the room where Remus was.  We pulled him back, but Remus jumped at us." He paused, looking up at his best friend.  Rarely had he seen him look so shocked – Sirius's grey eyes were wide, his lips slightly parted.  "It missed his vein by a quarter of an inch," James said bluntly.  Picking up David's bowl, which was already tinted red, he took it to the bathroom to empty and refill, this time adding essence of murtlap tentacles before handing it back to David.

It was a few minutes before Sirius found his voice, and then he just swore again weakly, sitting down on the windowsill.  "David – I didn't know you would go after him, I – I didn't think-"

David whirled; the bowl crashed to the floor.  "No, you _didn't_ think! You _never_ do! Both of us could have been killed – you didn't think of that, did you? And what was that? You didn't think we'd go and try to stop him? You thought we'd just let Snape be killed, then? And what if we had – what if you got your wish and Snape had been killed? Then there would have been the jolly business of telling Remus he's a murderer, that he's finally realized his worst fear, and, just as a plus, one of his best friends set him up to do it.  But he'll take it well, I'm sure, he'll only fucking _KILL__ HIMSELF!_  God damn you, you-"

But rage had burned away David's vocabulary, and he stood there, shaking. 

James stared.  He had never, ever seen his brother this angry before.  Sirius had actually shrank back from him.

"Wha - what's going on?" Peter had awoken at last, and was looking bemusedly at them from his bed.  "Hey – what time is it? Why didn't you guys wake me up to go?"

Somehow, Peter's addition closed the discussion.  Obviously, this was not the time for explanations.

"We're not going anywhere tonight, Peter," James said wearily.  "Just go back to sleep – that's what we're doing.  We'll talk in the morning.  _Reparo_," he added to the broken bowl.  Going back to Remus's supplies, he took the gauze, and after rubbing David's hand with a salve, wrapped it carefully about his hand, going around the thumb.  When he was done he Banished the supplies back to Remus's trunk, and David went straight to bed, not bothering to change, but pulled the hangings around tightly.  James pulled off his robes quickly, not looking at Sirius, and too closed the curtains around him without a goodnight.

A few hours later, shortly before dawn, James awoke suddenly, feeling uncannily alert for such a short rest after so much stress.  Sitting up, he pushed back the curtains slightly to see David standing by the window, head bent as it had been last night as he rewrapped his hand with a fresh strip of gauze.  Ignoring the cold floor, James slid out of bed and quickly strode over to where his brother was standing.  David looked up at him, his face much more of its normal color than it had been last night.

To the unspoken question, David raised his hand as he sealed the end of the gauze.  "It's much better than it was last night.  It still hurts some – woke me up a little while ago.  But look-" David firmly and deftly grasped a metal picture frame of their parents which had been lying next to the bowl of water.  "Silver," he said softly, smiling a little triumphantly as he raised the frame.  James grinned back – he hadn't even known he was still worried about the effects of the bite, but relief was washing over him.

David's smile faded as he looked over to the two occupied beds in the room.  "You'd better wake them up," he said briefly.  "I'm going downstairs to wait for Remus.  He'll be back soon." He turned and walked out the door, closing it quietly behind him.

James stood reluctantly for a moment, then moved over to Peter's bed at the far end.  Pulling open his hangings, he was greeted with the sight of Peter lying on his back, one arm thrown above his head, his sheets tangled and half-off, his mouth open.  James shook his shoulder.  "Peter.  Wake up.  C'mon, Peter."

At last the boy was roused, blinking stupidly up at James.  " 'Sit time to go, James?"

"No, it's morning.  Come on, we need to go downstairs."

"But it's holiday…sleep in…."

"Not this morning.  Come on, Peter, we need to go down to the common room."

Finally he got him half-dressed and stumbling down the stairs.  James dragged his feet over to Sirius's bed.  He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should merely call his name until he woke up, then decided that was stupid, so he walked to the side of Sirius's bed, grabbed the edge of his mattress, and yanked it up, dumping his best friend hard on the floor.

There was a muffled yell, and Sirius scrambled under his sheet, tangling himself further before finding the edge, and looking around wildly until he saw James, still holding up his mattress.

Ridiculously, James felt an infuriating urge to laugh at the sight Sirius sitting there in his pajamas, disheveled, staring up at James.  He fought the treasonous laugh off, and at last, when he felt fairly secure he wouldn't so much as smile, said, 'We're waiting downstairs for Remus.  Come on." He left the room, feeling Sirius stare after him. 

Sirius joined them a few minutes later, walking much slower than his usual jaunty, confident way.  He took in the scene slowly, glancing around the empty room save for James, David, and Peter: the brothers sitting on a short sofa together, Peter in a chair to their left.  Sirius took a wooden chair on the far right, a few feet away from the twins' sofa, adapting the same sullen posture he had in Dumbledore's office and staring fixedly at the wall, away from his friends.  No one spoke, though Peter glanced bemusedly from one to another.

When Remus had woken up in the Shrieking Shack, he had been surprised to find none of his friends there with him.  Of late they had taken to staying with him until dawn, then helping him back to the castle.  So he stumbled back through the tunnel, across the grounds, and up the castle alone – the only reason he didn't wonder much about the change was because his head felt about as useful for thinking as a brick.

He mumbled the password, tripped into the common room, and stopped short at seeing his four best friends sitting there, all except Sirius, who only glanced over quickly at him then turned back away, looking up at him, their faces more solemn than Remus could ever remember seeing them.  Sluggish though his brain was at the moment, it took him only a few seconds of looking at them – Sirius glaring away, apart from the others, Peter looking thoroughly baffled, David now staring at his feet, and James alone meeting his eyes – to realize something was very, very wrong.  Remus became perfectly still.

James took out his wand and beckoned an armchair forward with it.  "Sit down, Remus."

He didn't move.  Ice seemed to be replacing his blood.

"Go on, Remus, just sit down," repeated James.  Very slowly, Remus stepped forward and sat, facing them.  Cold terror was growing inside of him.  He tried to speak.

"What – who – what did I do?"

"You never left the Shrieking Shack last night," James said swiftly, as though to reassure him.  Normally, the words would have, but there was an underlying tone that shouted there was more to it.  Remus looked at him blankly, waiting to be told what had happened.

James sighed, glanced at David and Sirius, then began slowly.  'The other day, Sirius told Snape how to get past the Whomping Willow to the Shrieking Shack.  As the ultimate prank, I guess, to get him back for trying to follow us around.  He didn't tell us what he did until last night – after he saw Snape go under the Whomping Willow.  We – David and me – went after him, but we didn't reach him until he was already at the end and saw – you.  We pulled him back, he wasn't hurt at all." He paused here, glancing at David, but his brother did not look up from his knees.  James rubbed his eyes and continued, "Naturally, Snape went straight to Dumbledore, saying all of us had tried to kill him.  McGonagall took the three of us – Sirius, me, and David – up to his office, and after hearing everything, he took 200 points from Gryffindor for Sirius, kicked him off the Quidditch team, and then suspended him for a week.  He's leaving today at noon.  But after he made Snape and Sirius leave, he gave me and David a hundred points for saving Snape's life."

At that, Sirius looked at him, surprised, but James didn't turn away from Remus.  Peter was looking flabbergasted that he slept through all of that.  But the icy terror through Remus's body had not receded; he could sense there was something James was leaving out.

James did seem to be hesitating again, shooting another glance at his brother, then at Remus.  He took a breath and said heavily, "And there was something else that happened.  When me and David pulled Snape away from you – well, you were about to jump.  And you did – we got out of the way, mostly – except you scratched David.  It's not that deep," he said quickly.  "He's not a werewolf, we already tested him-"

But Remus had pulled back in his seat as though he had been slapped.  David finally looked up anxiously, and even Sirius had turned to watch.

"Remus," David said tentatively in a low voice, "it's not so bad, it's just a scratch, an accident-"

"Just – let me see it." His words were a hoarse whisper.  David hesitated, then slowly unwound the bandage and reluctantly held out his hand.  Peter leaned in.

Remus's head was bowed over his best friend's hand – no one could see his face.  He slowly ran a thumb over the three dark red cuts over the back of his hand, and for a moment was as still as before.  Then, as quick as a flash, he leapt to his feet, drew back his fist, and hit Sirius in the face with all his strength.  "You _bastard!_"

James and David jumped up, grabbing Remus and pulling him back away from Sirius, who had been knocked off his chair and against the wall, and was not holding his jaw and looking up at Remus in sheer amazement and a kind of new, healthy respect.  Peter scrambled forward to help him up.

James was feeling just as shocked as he had the night before when David started shouting at Sirius, except more so, if that was possible.  Remus had always been so tolerant of everything going on around him, and very rarely would he even swear.  But now he stood, trembling, glaring at Sirius.

"Right," said James finally.  'Let's just sit down, everyone…Remus, try some deep breathing…anything broken?"

Sirius shook his head, touching his nose and mouth gingerly. "No, but unless anyone else would like to take another swing at me, I think I'll go back upstairs and pack. " Giving Remus a wide berth, he quickly scaled up the stairs.

James and David pushed Remus back into his seat. He didn't seem to notice. Peter stood awkwardly before them, hands shoved in his pockets. David walked back around Remus's chair and picked up his bandage from where he dropped it. Remus leaned back, his eyes closed, breathing rather hard.

"When are you telling the girls?" It was almost a whisper.

James glanced at David, then answered, "As soon as they come down, I guess."

"No one's going to blame you, Remus," David said, with a kind of low intensity. He reached forward and shook him slightly with his uninjured hand. "No one can blame you. If there's anyone to blame, it's Sirius."

He didn't answer. David looked helplessly at James, then sat. James and Peter did too, and for a while the four boys sat, motionless.

Their gloomy silence was interrupted by a silver-blue flash that swooped through the portrait-hole door like a ghost bird, across the common room and disappeared up the girls' stairs. The boys looked at each other.

Surprisingly, the corner of David's mouth twitched. "Well, we can all pretend we don't know what that was."

James glanced at his watch. "I predict Lily will be down in…two minutes and twenty seconds."

"Shall we detain her?" David asked. The Marauders in the brothers, at least, were coming back.

James stood. "I think it's better she hear it from us rather than Snape."

Peter also got up. "Right." He walked over to the portrait hole, stood in front of it and crossed his arms.

"Good, Peter." James nodded. "Bar the way."

Unexpectedly, Remus's voice was heard from the chair. "I don't know how you're able to joke about all this." His eyes were still closed as he slumped down.

James walked behind and leaned over the top of the armchair. "It's our own special way of dealing with it, Moony. Otherwise we'd be stuffing Sirius through the Quidditch goalposts."

Despite himself, Remus snorted, but any further comments were stopped by the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. Everyone waited, watching the stairs, as Lily came into view. She glanced around at them warily.

"Lily, before you go, you need to hear what happened," James said quickly. Remus, who had opened his eyes to see her, closed them again and slid further down.

She edged towards the exit, still eyeing them suspiciously. "Severus called first."

"Lily, you have to at least admit he's prejudiced when it comes to us," he said desperately. "You need to hear the _truth_ – he doesn't know the entire story."

To their surprise and relief, she did stop, and for a  moment said nothing, only looked from James's pleading expression to Remus's slumped position, and to David's silent, sober face. Some of the wariness in her own face disappeared, and she was once again Lily, the Marauder's friend. "Where's Sirius?"

James took a breath. "If I answer that, I'll have to tell you everything."

"Well – just tell me what you need to – what Severus doesn't know."

He moved forward, quickly, to her. "It wasn't us," he said urgently, looking straight in her eyes, willing her to believe him, "it wasn't me or Remus or David. None of us knew anything about it, I swear it to you, Lily. It was just – Sirius. It was all his idea, just his." There was an awful, twisting feeling in his gut – it knew that he was breaking the last thread between his best friend and this girl in front of him now – the best female friend he had. Lily would never forgive Sirius for this. Never. But the alternative – her hating all of them indiscriminately – was worse. Besides, this was the truth.

Lily's eyes had widened as he spoke; something akin to fear was there, fear of what she didn't know. She took a step back, glancing around at them again, but found no reassurance. As she took another step back, Peter moved out of her way.

"Oh, God, what happened?" she whispered. "What did you do?"

James couldn't answer. He swallowed. "It was just Sirius," he repeated helplessly. "Just remember that, whatever else Snape tells you."

Still staring at them, lips slightly parted, she turned and pushed her way out. In the silence following, they could hear her footsteps running down the hall.

Lily ran down the stairs, unknowingly just as James and David had only a few hours ago. James had scared her; something in his tone, and the look in David's eyes, and Sirius's eerie, unnatural absence – it all scared her. Last night was the full moon, she knew – oh, Merlin, what did they do? It was always so, so risky – and James said it was Sirius's idea, his fault. Sirius's recklessness, his impulsiveness, never bothering to think before acting, now frightened her beyond anything else. Heart in her throat, she flew down the stairs toward the doors of the Great Hall, where Severus had told her in his laconic message to meet him.

He was pacing before them, hands clasped behind his back, when she finally came down the marble staircases into sight, but he immediately stopped and took several long, quick steps toward her.

"Severus, what-"

She was efficiently interrupted by his mouth meeting hers, kissing her fiercely as he held her shoulders. The intensity was something she had experienced on certain occasions before, so that it now sent alarm bells off through her mind.  She tried to pull away.

"Severus, what the hell hap-"

He interrupted her again, but this time more verbally as he took hold of her shoulders again, pulling her close and saying, his voice raw with the same intensity she had just felt, "I love you - don't ever forget that, do you understand? If something should happen to me, don't ever forget it or doubt it. _I love you."_

Now she was completely frightened. "Severus – what are you talking about, what do you mean if something happened-"

He had calmed down some. Taking her arm, he pulled her outside into the bright sunshine and toward the forest. "We'll go here to talk."  Thankfully, he stopped at the edge of the trees, just as they were in the shade. She was glad; she didn't think she could have gone into the forest now.

Severus didn't waste time getting to the point. Turning to face her directly, he said bluntly, "Your bloody _friends _tried to kill me last night."

_"What?"_ Lily staggered back; for a moment, she completely forgot about what James had told her.

"You heard what I said. They all set me up-"

"No – no, they couldn't have-" Her mind refused to accept it.

"But they did," he said fiercely, "it was quite plain. And what I thought to be the best of them, Lupin, turned out to be-" He broke off suddenly, looking at her sharply.

"What?" she said quickly. "What about Remus?" _He couldn't know-_

"Do you know?"

She chose her words carefully. "If it's something about Remus, then yes, of course I know, I knew before anyone-"

He finally abandoned all attempts at being cryptic. "You know he's a were-"

"Oh my God!" Lily cried, her hand flying to her mouth. "How – how did you-"

"I _told_ you, they set me up so that bloody _werewolf_ would kill me-"

"They set – _Remus _– up-"

Not quite five minutes later, Lily was back in the now empty common room, flying up the boys' stairs. With as little hesitation as she had in front of her own dorm door, she pushed into the sixth years' room and then stopped short.

Clearly, there had been more explaining done in her absence. Her sisters were there, Rose standing next to David against the wall, her eyes red as she clasped his hand. Remus was sitting not far from them, his knees drawn up and arms hanging over them. James and Peter sat cross-legged on a bed. The only one moving was Sirius, going from the drawers of the small bureau beside his bed to his trunk. He did not look up at her entrance.

Only now did everything begin to slow down and come together. Lily took a small step forward, looking around at everyone. It was completely silent, save for Sirius's footsteps and the thuds objects made as they landed in his trunk.

_Severus said they had tried to kill him….they tried to let Remus attack him…but James said it was just Sirius…just his idea…_Sirius_ set him up-_

"You didn't know about it." It wasn't quite a question. Sirius paused, then threw something else into his chest. There was a small tinkle of broken glass.

David did a sort of cross between shaking his head and shrugging. "He told us only after Snape went into the Whomping Willow."

"We chased him," James added softly, "but didn't reach him until he already saw Remus."

Lily drew in her breath sharply. "It was that close?"

David raised his right hand, an ironic smile crossing his face. "Not quite in the nick of time, actually."

Another tinkle of broken something from Sirius's trunk.

Lily had a brief feeling of paralysis. She could only stare at the gauze around his hand, horrified.

"No," he said, seeing her look. "It's not so bad. Just a scratch, really, though some thick-headed twats are taking it out of whack." As he spoke, he nonchalantly kicked his best friend in the ribs.

Lily ran her tongue over her lips. "Ah. Where-" she stopped, unsure of the wisdom in talking about Sirius in third person in front of him at the time, but David helped her.

"Dumbledore suspended him for a week."

She blinked. "How did he find out?"

James grinned as he fell backwards onto the bed he was on, informing the canopy, "Your conscientious boyfriend felt it his duty to inform the headmaster of the attendance of a werewolf to his school."

"So after everything was said and done, he's suspended for a week, starting today."

"And kicked off the Quidditch team."

"And two hundred points from Gryffindor."

"And then Remus punched him in the jaw."

"Remus – what?" she sputtered, taking a double take.

"Remus punched him in the jaw," James repeated.

Lily stared at her friend. Though his eyes were closed, the slightest of smiles was on his lips. Mary grinned outright beside him.

The slamming of the lid of Sirius's trunk made nearly everyone jump, and the atmosphere, which had been a sort of hysterical tension, lost the little bit of capacity it had had to make any kind of humor. Sirius had finally looked up, and a dark bruise was already visible on the right side of his jaw. His gaze went past everyone, straight to Lily. His grey eyes were as aggressive as they had ever been – daring her to say something, to question. For the first time since the twins had left the common room last night, it was not feigned.  She glared back at him.

"So, _Lil,_" he drawled, his voice dripping sarcasm on the nickname, "I guess you're waiting for me to tell you how I wasn't _thinking,_ how I didn't want him actually _killed_-"

"No," she replied quietly. "I know you too well for that. You are impulsive, but this was thought out. No…you're too clever to be able to use stupidity as an excuse. You knew exactly what you were doing."

Her words were quiet, dispassionate, but they seemed to infuriate Sirius. He flushed and stepped forward quickly to her. "I had reasons for doing what I did," he said in a low voice. "Reasons you know nothing about, so do _not_ judge me."

"I'm not," she answered, her voice still quiet as she looked steadily into his eyes. "I don't want to judge you or hear your reasons, whatever they are. What you did – or tried to do – is enough." Turning, she walked out of the room.

Sirius glowered at the spot where she had stood. Rose tugged on David's hand, and they left, followed quickly by Remus and Peter. Mary made no move to get up, however, and neither did James. Sirius turned again, kicked his trunk, then muttered a locking charm. Mary watched him studiously, but there was a tired, pensive look to her.

Peter's head suddenly appeared at the door. "Breakfast is out. Do you want me to bring anything up?"

James stood up. "Thanks, Peter. I'll go with you."

After they were gone, it somehow seemed even more quiet. Above them, they could hear other Gryffindor boys walking and talking. Sirius sat on the floor, leaning against the end of his trunk. He stared towards the back window, out at the blue sky. Mary continued to watch him.

James and Peter returned with plates of toast and sausage and they all ate, Sirius with his usual appetite.

Downstairs, Lily, Rose, David, and Remus were talking in low voices. It was more of the first three doing the real talking – Remus listened.

"Severus thinks all of you are responsible," Lily said slowly, fingering the window ledge. "He's not about to believe the truth, either…not even if I told him…."

"It's a good excuse for him to hate us all," David said darkly.

"He already did that," Rose pointed out.

David was rubbing the gauze over his head, and he suddenly broke out, "Look, Lily, I'd rather not have him know I was – almost – hurt, all right?"

"All right."

James and Peter had re-entered the common room at this point with their food, which they offered to them, but the latter refused, since they would go down for a full breakfast in the Great Hall later on.

David watched them go up the stairs to their dorm. "Things'll be much better once he leaves."

No one needed to ask who he was talking about. Remus glanced at the clock on the wall. "Three hours till noon."

Lily sighed, leaning back against the wall and looking up at the ceiling. "This is depressing."

Rose prodded her sister. "Want to go try to convince your boyfriend not all of the boys want him dead?"

She shrugged and stood. "It'll give us something to do."

The girls found Severus still outside, sitting against the cold stone wall, and wasted a good deal of time arguing with him about who exactly was to blame, finally giving up to just talk of other things.

In the boys' dorm, Sirius, Mary, and James had not left, though Mary had left the floor to sit on David's bed.. Peter had found the company too moody for his taste, so he had borrowed a broom and joined Remus and David out in the Quidditch pitch to blow off some steam.

Ten minutes before eleven, James muttered something about walking with him down to the station. Sirius grunted a reply. From experience James could translate it as consent, so he looked down at him expectantly.

Sirius grunted again, this time accompanying it with words. "Go. I'm coming down."

James shrugged, and, after a quick, almost imperceptible glance between him and Mary, left.

Slowly Sirius got to his feet, but made no move to follow James out. Mary, studying David's bedspread, could feel his eyes on her. After a moment she looked up at him.

It was true that whatever had happened the night of the dance had never been brought up between them, and while they talked together with the rest, they were very careful not to be alone with each other. This was the first time since the dance that they were.

He was watching her now, arms crossed. There was something unreadable in his expression, and she didn't know if he was going to say something or was waiting for her to. She decided it would be best if she started. 

"I know why you did it," she said bluntly.

Only the slight raising of his eyebrows betrayed his surprise. Leaning against the bedpost, he rejoined, "Really."

Mary nodded. "You did it for James."

His surprise was concealed not quite as well this time. Sirius started to make a motion, checked himself, then said, his voice clearly fighting to stay even, "Of course, you know better to actually share that with anyone."

"Of course. It's better that" – she bit her lip, hesitating- "Lily doesn't know."

The old ironic look returned to his eyes. "You're siding with them, naturally."

"Then why am I still here?" she whispered.

He looked at her, suddenly solemn again. "I don't know. Why are you?"

"I don't know either."

He glanced towards the window. "Well, owl me if you ever find out, all right? Otherwise, I'll be back here in a week to contend the matter again."

Mary tried to smile as she slid off the bed. "I'll wait right here, then."

"I'm much obliged." He hauled his bag over his shoulder, picking up his wand to direct his trunk, but paused in front of her. For a moment they were motionless, gazes locked, then Sirius, in one quick, casual movement, leaned forward, raising his hand to hold the back of her head, and brushed his lips against hers. It was just an instant, and then he was gone down the stairs, calling back, "Hold down the fort for me, won't you, Mary?"

She stood still in the middle of the room, staring after him.

Lily, Rose, and Severus had returned inside the castle, and were walking down a corridor with large windows at intervals. Severus suddenly stopped at one, staring intently out of it at something. Lily and Rose backed up to where he was, and they saw two forms walking slowly with a trunk across the grounds, toward the front gate.

Lily let out a long sigh. "Good."

The next few days were interesting. There was some bemusement and indignation at the sudden loss of one hundred Gryffindor points in the hourglass, and even though no explanation was ever given, it was assumed that, as usual, it had something to do with the Marauders.  Gryffindor house was very nearly used to losing the occasional dozen or twenty points due to their antics, but since this was an inordinate amount, the Marauders remaining were given the cold shoulder.  This didn't bother them much, though James almost bit off his tongue several times to stop himself from telling them to be glad it wasn't double that.  But he, David, Remus, Peter, and the girls were quiet those days, both apart individually, occupied with their thoughts, and apart as a group from everyone else.  But Rose rarely left David's side, and Lily was often gone, presumably with Severus. More often than not, she returned distraught.

It was the third day after Sirius left, and Lily was walking down the corridor on the sixth floor toward her and Severus's room.  Out of nervousness she already had her wand out.  She and Severus were supposed to meet again here tonight, but she wasn't looking forward to it.  Ever since that night he had been moodier than usual, refusing to talk about it. It frustrated her to no end.

Inside, she tossed her wand onto the table, paced a bit, then finally settled down in a chair by the window.  It was almost ten minutes later that she heard Severus enter. As she turned to see him, he sat down on the edge of the futon without looking at her. With a sinking, prophetic feeling, Lily knew this wasn't going end well.

She was quite right.  Five minutes after the first word was spoken, they were standing on either side of the room, arguing.

"What will it take, Lily? My dead body before you realize your darling boys aren't as innocent and naïve as you think they are?"

"They weren't all trying to kill you! How many times do I have to tell you – James and David _saved your life. _ What more do you want?"

"They only got cold feet. You're as blind as Dumbledore is."

"You weren't there the next morning, you didn't see the bruise on Sirius's jaw that Remus gave him – Remus, Remus didn't even know until-"

"Don't talk to me about that _werewolf."_

"Do you have a problem with Remus's lycanthropy, Severus? I never took you for the prejudiced type."

"Come on now, Lily. You can't play the stupid, ignorant, Muggle-born. You grew up in a wizarding home, you know what werewolves are."

"They're vict-"

_"Animals._  Not at first, but in slow degrees, they turn into animals."

She went white, staring at him in shock.  After a moment, she said in a low voice, "If he had bitten you – you're very lucky I don't feel the same way."

Late that night, James sat alone in the common room, staring from his seat on a sofa into the low flames of the fireplace, thinking.  He was tired, but his mind would not let him sleep. The Marauders were broken – not permanently, but it was no light thing, either.  David and Remus both refused to talk about Sirius.  His mind shifted to the girls.  Rose would always stand by David before any of them, and Mary had been acting very peculiar since Sirius had left.  Lily was torn – James knew that, and felt sorry for her.

An hour passed.  Suddenly, the portrait door opened, and someone entered, sniffing.  The only light came from the fire, so it took James a minute to realize who it was – Lily.

She hadn't seen him. Walking slowly across the common room, she lifted her hand to her face, which was now clearly visible in the firelight, to brush away tears – she was crying.

"Lily," he blurted out. "What's wrong?"

Startled, she turned towards him, then covered her eyes, embarrassed. "Oh – James.  I didn't know you were still up." Her voice was scratchy.

"What happened?"

"Nothing. I'm going to bed."  But she hesitated in front of the stairs, then whirled back to him.  "Actually – could I talk to you for a bit? I hate always bothering Rose-"

"Oh – sure."  He scooted over and gestured towards the sofa. Quickly she laid down besides him, her head propped on a pillow against the armrest, her feet resting against James's leg.  It was a comfortable, familiar position.  Lily pointed to a pillow on his other side.  He handed it to her, and she crossed her arms over it, hugging it to her chest. After a moment, she began reluctantly. 

"I know you're hardly the person I should be talking to about this, but – like I said, I know Rose is getting tired of listening, and she's not inclined to be very sympathetic right now-"

"Lily, stop, it's all right," he interrupted her. "I said I'd listen."

She smiled. "Thanks. Well – he's being so difficult – you know he won't believe it was only Sirius, so he's convinced you're all murderers, and he's furious at me for even talking to all of you anymore, even Remus – _especially _Remus. Merlin, you don't know what he said about him…." She pressed her hands to her forehead.

"He hates him now because he's a werewolf?" James asked quietly.

"Yeah. It's awful, isn't it? Especially him – he can ignore how I'm a Muggle-born, but not something else. It's terrible…you know how much I love Remus.  Anyway, tonight…it was just everything thrown together.  I hate it when he's angry at me like that."

"Was he yelling at you?"

"No – he doesn't yell, he talks really low, sort of a hiss – in a way, it's worse, I think.  He's so sarcastic, and makes me feel so stupid. I hate it."

James frowned, but tried to keep his voice neutral, like Remus could do. "He shouldn't do that to you."

She shrugged. "It's the way he is.  He's never been the perfect boyfriend, I knew that when I got into this.  He does love me – I know you must find it impossible to believe he's even capable of love, but he is.  It's not perfect, but what is? Well – except Rose and David, of course." They grinned at each other knowingly. "You know we're probably going to be brother and sister-in-law one day, right?"

"I would definitely put my money on it."

She made a face.  "That'll be so weird.  Anyway…Severus is being a prick at the moment.  But it'll get better. One of these years." She smiled again, more faintly.

He didn't smile back, only studied her face, still worried. "Are you happy with him, Lily? Really?"

Her smile faded back into seriousness. "James, Rose and David's relationship isn't an ideal – it's a freak chance.  Not that it's not a good thing, it is, but it's not a status others should try to reach."

"I didn't ask if you achieved a utopia, I asked if you were happy."

"Sorry. Yes, I'm happy. Overall.  All right?"

"All right – if you say so."

"I'm all right, James. I promise."

"If you say so," he repeated. "But – if he ever really does hurt you, do I have permission to hurt him back?"

She laughed at that. "You're sweet. Did I ever tell you that, James?"

"I guess that means no."

She smiled again and, sitting up suddenly, leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Goodnight, James.  Thanks for talking to me."

"Anytime, Lily."'

Four days later, James leaned against the brick wall in Hogsmeade Station, hands shoved in his pockets, watching the train slow to a stop before him.  Only one passenger got off.  Sirius shook his head, throwing his hair back, as he walked up to James.

"So, should I take it as a bad sign that you're the only one here to see me?"

James grinned and shrugged.  "Remus, David, and Peter are waiting up in the common room.  Rose was there when I left, but Lily and Mary are hiding."

Something flickered in his eyes. "Mary, huh?"

James nodded, mentally acknowledging the likely possibility something had happened between them before he left. "Dunno where she disappeared to.  It's fairly certain Lily's with Snape somewhere."

" 'Course."  They started walking back to the school, Sirius kicking up the dust.  "Just so I know, is Snape planning anything to get back at me?"

James shook his head.  "I don't think so.  Lily would've said."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Sirius said, unconcerned. "If she's the same way she was before I left, she wouldn't object to a sudden, painful death thrown in my direction."

"I don't think she hates you."

Sirius snorted.  James did not reply to that, and it wasn't until they had reached Hogwarts' front gate that they spoke again.  "Have they – has anyone forgiven me?" There was a slight note of sarcasm in the last words, but James knew it was a sincere question.  He shrugged again.

"Remus won't hit you again, David won't yell at you. I don't know if you'll get much more than that."

"Heh. Have you talked to Nicole yet about being Beater?"

"Yeah. She's temporarily persuaded."

"What does that mean?"

"She's agreed to play in the next game, but after that, no. So we'll have another try-out after everyone gets back."

Sirius was quiet for a moment. "Try out that third year…Daniel Pew. Or…Collin Parker. Fourth year, I think."    

They walked up through the front doors.  Inside, a Gryffindor looked in surprise at Sirius. "Where've you been to, Black?"

"You know, the Minister called me up to offer to surrender his position to my superior leadership skills, but I talked him out of it. Figured I'd better finish school first."

Sirius hesitated for an instant before the portrait hole, but James saved him the trouble by giving the password, stepping into the common room and announcing, "He's back."

Lily and Severus watched them enter the school from their room on the sixth floor. There was still some tension between them, but Sirius' return brought them to a common ground.

"I wonder when I absolutely have to go back."

He glanced at her. "Even if you don't return to your tower, you have classes together."

"As you do."

"Not every class."

"He's not in my Advanced Charms class."

"He's in every other, and you have meals together."

She didn't answer, sick of sniping. After a moment, she commented, "My birthday's in two weeks."

"I know."

"I'll be seventeen."

"Really now."

"Will you just _quit it_?" she exploded, snapping.  "I'm tired of bickering like this. I'm trying to make things better, but if you're going to make no effort at all-" She shook her head and stalked towards the door.

"Wait."

She stopped and slowly turned to face him. He moved forward, shortening the distance between them, and spoke quickly and quietly. "I don't like this either, Lily.  You must understand it's hard for me to come that close – and then you just keep talking to them like nothing happened.  I know, Lily, don't say anything.  But you have to see it's difficult for me to watch that."

Slowly, she nodded. "I see," she said at last.  "You feel like I don't care you were almost killed – like it hardly mattered to me."

He didn't answer, but Lily understood.  Gently, she laid her hands on his shoulders. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't mean for you to get that impression.  I care, Severus – I care very much.  If I didn't I'd be down there with everyone else, talking to Sirius." She touched his cheek.  "Because I know he is responsible. I don't want to talk to him.  He meant to kill you."  She shuddered.  "I've known him so long, it's hard for me to believe that of him, but – he did.  And now we all have to live with that, me most of all."

He pulled her to him, and they embraced.  Nothing more needed to be said.

Mary walked downstairs as the Marauders and Rose were still standing in the common room, trying to make conversation. "Wotcher, Sirius."

He gave a little wave, trying to catch her eye, but she only smiled blandly at him and sat down next to Rose.

This lasted about two minutes.  James was cheerfully manipulating his brother and Sirius into a friendly debate about their chances of winning the Quidditch Cup this year, when suddenly Sirius yelled, "Enough!" Everyone jumped – Remus almost fell off his chair.  Sirius pointed at Mary.  "You.  Me.  Outside.  _Now_." 

Though startled, Mary tried to act nonchalant as she got up, following Sirius out of the portrait hole.  He stalked a ways down from the Fat Lady, then spun to face her.  She folded her arms and looked evenly at him.

"No more of these guessing games.  I want to know where you stand with me, wherever it is.  No bullshit."

"All right.  No bullshit, then."  She looked him squarely in the eye.  "I like you, Sirius.  I admit it.  But you tried to kill my sister's boyfriend." She held up a hand.  "Let me finish.  Since I know why you did it, I don't hate you like the others do.  But still…blood's thicker than water." She smiled weakly.  "Sorry, Sirius.  But I can't…it would be a kind of betrayal.  She would be hurt, even if she tried not to show it.  I can't."

"Ah."  He looked down.  "Right.  Does that mean forever?"

"No."  She paused.  "When Lily forgives you…."

"Right."  He nodded.  "I get it."  Suddenly, he laughed bitterly.  "Not much to wait for, isn't it?"  She said nothing.  "Question, though," he added, leaning back against a windowsill.

"Yes?" she said guardedly.

"If this hadn't happened – and I had still kissed you – would you have gone out with me?"

She pondered this.  "I don't know.  Probably.  If this hadn't happened, would you still have kissed me?"

He looked surprised.  "I don't know.  If I had an opportunity, I guess."  He straightened.  "Let's go back."

As soon as Mary and Sirius left the common room, quizzical and interested looks were passed around the circle.

"What exactly happened up in the dorm before he left, James?" David asked.

"Nothing.  I was there, until Peter came, then I went down with him to get some food, but when I came back they hadn't moved."

"Still, alone in a room with five beds and vast amounts of unresolved sexual tension between them," mused Peter.  Rose kicked him lightly.

"Right before it was time to leave, Sirius did ask me to go on ahead," James admitted.

David nodded.  "That'll be it, then."

"They weren't alone that long," James said quickly.

"Oh, you'd be surprised how much a guy can accomplish in a short time," Peter said airily, and Rose kicked him again, a bit harder.

Mary and Sirius returned as they had left, Mary nonchalant, and Sirius a bit more expressionless.  James returned to his game of Making Them Talk, now with Remus added.

Half an hour later, the portrait hole opened again and Lily stepped in, looking tired but steely.  Sirius opened his mouth, but Lily raised a hand and shook her head slightly.  She spoke only two words:  "Don't.  Ever."  She walked past them and up to her dorm.  Sirius closed his mouth.

Lily passed her birthday.  Natalie Potter sent her a note along with a gift, asking that she, Rose, and Mary spend the upcoming summer at her house.  Lily was grateful.

Gryffindor had barely scraped a win on the Quidditch field with Nicole's rusty skills.  Helpless, Sirius had almost frothed at the mouth in the stands.  James had quickly held another try-out for the position, and Collin Parker got it.  James told them later he was nothing compared to Sirius, but there was nothing else to do.

The rest of the year finished up quickly.  The Marauders became completely reunited through time.  Even Rose became perfectly friendly with Sirius again.  Lily did not.  Sirius knew better than to try to talk to her now; she needed more time.

Professor McGonagall made an announcement to all sixth years that had turned seventeen and wished to take their Apparition test that summer about how to make appointments at the Ministry.  Rose was the only one who couldn't in their class.  The rest owled their appointments in.

Lily lifted a hand to shade her eyes, squinting against the brilliant June sun.  She had just crossed the barrier onto the Muggle Kings' Cross Station with Rose and Mary.

"Lily, how are you?" Natalie Potter's voice was suddenly heard to their left.  Turning, they saw her standing nearby, smiling, and reached forward to hug each in turn.  "Now, where are my well-behaved sons?"

"Oh, they're coming, a bit behind us last I saw," Rose answered.

"Is that so – oh, Severus, I'm sorry, I didn't see you."  Natalie held out her hand towards him.  He inclined his head slightly as he took it.

"So how was your-"  Natalie was interrupted as James plowed into her, closely followed by David and Sirius.

"Mummy!"

"Oh, Mum, we missed you so, so much-"

"Budge over, she's my mum too-"

Natalie, who had been knocked back a few steps, smiled at the girls as she tried in vain to pry the jumble of arms off.  "All right, I missed you all too, you can let go now-"

"No!" the three voices chorused in unison.

"Give Remus and Peter a turn. Go on…."  Miraculously, Natalie pulled free and turned to hug the other two, kissing each on the forehead. "Hello, dears…."

"Lily." 

She turned from watching the reunion to Severus.  "Yes?"

"I had an idea that we could take a trip sometime during the summer – just you and me.  We could go to the coast or somewhere like that for a week or so."

"Oh.  I'd like to..." She glanced at Natalie. "But-"

He had followed her glance.  "We're both of age, Lily."

"I know."  She hesitated still.  "I'll owl you, all right?"

He frowned, not satisfied.  "All right, I'll owl you too."

"Lily, we're going!" Mary called.

"Coming!"  Lily kissed him.  "Love you."

He returned the kiss.  "I love you."

"Lily!"

"Coming!"  She hitched her bag over her shoulder, and with a last smile to Severus, hurried after her friends.

On the way to the Potters' house, she leaned forward to where Natalie sat.  "How's Petunia?"

"Oh, she's doing fine.  You remember she agreed to stay with us at least until she graduated from school?  She seems perfectly happy at our house, though very reluctant to bring any of her friends over.  I asked if she would like to come with us to pick you up, but she said she'd rather wait at home."

They found her in the same room Natalie had given her last summer, but made more Petunia-like with her various belongings scattered about naturally.

"Hello, Petunia."

She looked up and blinked at her sisters.  "Oh.  You're back."

"Yeah." Lily crossed the room to lean over the desk she was sitting at.  "So how was your year?"

"Adequate, I suppose."

James and David appeared at the doorway.  "Petty!"

She frowned.  "Oh.  You're back too."

"Well, yeah, we do happen to live here," David pointed out as he wandered in.

Petunia's frown deepened.  "It was nice while the house was empty."

"You can live with us for two months, Petty."

"Go on, James, leave her alone," Lily said, getting up to nudge the boys out.

When only the four sisters were left in the room, Petunia leaned back, pushing back her hair and studying them.  "Once I graduate I'm gone, you know.  Either to get a flat with a friend of mine, or with Vernon.  When are you leaving?"

"Here?  We don't have any plans – Natalie hasn't exactly set a deadline for us to be out of the house by.  She hasn't for you, either," Lily added.

"I know," Petunia said defensively, "but I'm tired of living here – in a wizard's house.  I'm not one of you, and I never will be.  I'm out of place."  There was a restless look in her eye, and Lily knew she was serious.  She understood Petunia's need to belong – she had never really felt at home, not truly.

"You won't forget us, will you?" she asked suddenly.  "Invite us to your wedding, all right?"

Petunia hesitated, glancing at the three of them.  "I suppose so.  If you're not at school."

Bored and impatient, Mary edged towards the door.  "Come on, let's go unpack."


	19. Part Four of Book Seven

**_Part Four_**

Two days later, Apollo, Severus's owl, swooped in with a letter.

_Lily-_

_Perhaps you can meet me tonight at Wong Chan's in Diagon Alley – __eight o'clock__.  Ask Potter's mother if you don't know where it is – she should._

_Severus_

She did ask Natalie, who explained to her it was a restaurant on a side street of Diagon Alley.  After letting her sisters know where she was going, she flooed to the Leaky Cauldron a few minutes before eight, and from there walked to Abbey Lane.

Severus was standing outside the restaurant, shoulders hunched as he watched a group of men talking heatedly outside an antique shop.

"Hi."

He turned quickly and said nothing but acknowledged her with a nod.  Lily was used to his silence.  As they walked inside the restaurant, his hand crept around her waist.

He told the waiter his name and reservations and they were led to a large table, the center of which was a shining metal cooking range.  A wooden area surrounded it, on which were lined plates and chopsticks.

"Have you ever eaten at a restaurant with habachi cooking?" he asked suddenly as he pulled out her chair for her.

She nodded.  "Yeah, it was a tradition to go every year on Rose's birthday.  We each had a different tradition for our birthday – Petunia's was going to a Muggle play, mine was going to a water park, and Mary's to a Quidditch game – whatever one closest to her birthday."

A small, cheerful family joined their table, talking eagerly amongst themselves.  Lily sensed Severus's growing irritation.

A waitress came to take their orders, and shortly thereafter the cook arrived, pulling his tray of cooking supplies.

Lily had never ceased to be fascinated with the show that was put on, tempered with only a slight bit of magic.  The smallest boy at their table laughed and clapped his hands in delight as the cook playfully tossed a shrimp tail onto his plate.

After the rice was served, Severus asked her, "Have you asked Potter's mother about you taking a holiday with me?"

Mouth full of rice and eyes cast down, she shook her head.

He sighed.  "You could mention it to her at the least, Lily. You would like to go away for a week or so with me, wouldn't you?"

" 'Course."

"Really? Then mention it. 'I would like to take a holiday for a week with Severus and I am seventeen years of age.' "

Lily picked through her rice nervously with her chopsticks, then began cautiously, "Well, you know I have an appointment with the boys at the Ministry for our Apparition licenses – "

"So the week after, then."

The mother of the family leaned forward suddenly towards Lily.  "Excuse me, but I just wanted to tell you that you have the prettiest hair."

Lily smiled and thanked her automatically, then turned back to Severus.  "I'll talk to Natalie."

She stepped out of the Potters' fireplace an hour and a half later; Natalie was sitting on the couch, reading.  She looked up as Lily dusted off soot.

"Hello, Lily.  Did you have a nice evening?"

"Yeah."  Now was as good a time as any, she decided.  "Natalie…."

Natalie closed her book.  "Yes?"

Lily sat down next to her, trying to think of the best way to say it.  "Severus – has this idea – for a holiday, to take me up to Brighton or somewhere like that for few days."

Natalie studied her seriously.  "Only you and him?"

Lily nodded, biting her lip unconsciously.

"Well, Lily, you and he are of age, so if you want to go, I can't stop you.  But I would prefer someone accompanying you – even if just for appearance's sake.  Would you consider taking your sisters – one or two or all – along with you?"

Lily nodded quickly, knowing Severus would hate this, but thankful for any compromise.  "All right.  I'll talk to him about it."

"Good."  Natalie smiled.  "When are you planning on going?"

"Oh – sometime after we take our apparition tests."

"All right.  But Lily…you're a clever girl.  I'm trusting you to be responsible."

Lily could feel herself blushing.  She nodded again.

Natalie gave her a measuring look.  "Well, goodnight."

"Goodnight."

She hurried upstairs to her bedroom that she shared with Rose and Mary.  Like at home, they had two beds: one for Mary, the restless sleeper, and one for Lily and Rose.  Mary was already asleep, but Rose was looking through a Potter photo album.

"How was it?"

"Good." Lily told her about Severus's holiday suggestion and what Natalie had said.

A slight trace of anxiety flickered in Rose's eyes.  "What are you going to do?"

"I'll ask Severus if it would absolutely kill him to bring you and Mary along."

"Do you think he'll agree?"

"Well, if it's either that or nothing, he'll agree."

Mary's muffled voice was suddenly heard.  " 'Course he will.  The boys are going to throw a fit – especially David, Rose.  You'll have to tie him down to keep him from following us.  Now where exactly are we going?"

Lily smiled.  "So you're not asleep.  Severus suggested a little place just outside Brighton.  And she's right about David," she added, looking at Rose.

She gave a resigned shrug.  "Can't be helped.  It's the way the world goes round."

Mary yawned.  "It'll be fun…where did you say we're going?"  

"He said maybe after our apparition exams."  Lily emphasized the indefiniteness of the issue.

Mary seemed too sleepy to notice.  "Which are…"

"June eighth, remember?  This Thursday."

"So we'll leave Friday.  Excellent."

"We'll _see,_ Mary.  I'll owl him tomorrow."

As Lily had foreseen, Severus was not in favor of the compromise, but conceded that Rose and Mary could accompany them.  Mary was enthusiastic about the idea.  Telling James and David about the forthcoming holiday was something Lily approached tactfully.

"You can invite Sirius over for a while in a few days," Lily said casually during breakfast the morning after Severus's reply had come.

"Oh, really?" said David suspiciously.  "How's that?"

Lily stirred her drink unnecessarily.  "Well, Rose, Mary, and I are going on a little trip for a week – out to the coast.  We'll leave on Friday, most likely."

"By yourselves?" James asked, surprised.

"No," Mary said breezily.  "Severus is taking us."

_"What?"_

"Don't get your knickers in a twist," said Mary airily, loving the play and her role in it.

"Don't get my-"  David fulfilled his part by sputtering incoherently.  Rose followed Lily's example by swirling her own drink.  "I don't suppose you would remember last summer when we all stayed at his house for nearly a month?"

"That was – different," said David obstinately.

"I see he's thrown himself into the role of the unreasonable husband early," James observed.

"Shut up.  Look – why do you have to go anyway, Rose?"

"Oh, it's nice to see you're worried equally about us," Lily said dryly.

"That's bollocks; Lily, you're not really in any danger with him, and Mary can take care of herself-"

"Damn right."

"-does Snape really want Rose to come too?"

Lily sighed.  "Well, to be honest, he only wanted me to go initially, but we thought it would be better if Rose and Mary went with us."

"Besides, I _want_ to go," said Rose simply.

David looked from her to Lily and then back again.  "This is one of those 'I must go watch over my sister' things, isn't it?"

"It is _not_," said Lily sharply.

"David," said Mary seriously, "I know this is very hard for you, but it is actually possible that we want to go on a holiday with Severus just for the _fun_ of it."

James snorted.  "Oxymoron."

"Whatever.  Well, we're going on a holiday with him next week – actually, we're leaving on Friday."

"_This_ Friday?"

"As opposed to last Friday?"

David frowned.  "Does Mum know about this?"

"Yes."  Lily added, more seriously, "We're seventeen, just as you are."

James shrugged, more unconcernedly.  "If you're going to go, go.  Have fun."

Lily looked at him sharply, disliking his indifference.  He gave her an odd smile, turned back to the table and said, "I'll invite Sirius here while you're gone.  We'll have fun apparating from room to room all over the house, driving Dad mad…."

Thursday Lily, James, and David flooed to the Ministry with Mr. Potter, down to the sixth level where they joined about a hundred other teenagers in the waiting room of the Apparition Test Center.  They found Peter and Sirius there (Remus, as a werewolf, had to go through a special class and thus had a different testing day).

"James, good to see you!  It's been quite a while, hasn't it?"

"I saw you yesterday, Sirius."

David immediately told them about the trip the girls were going to take with Snape.  Peter raised his eyebrows at her, but Sirius muttered something indistinct.

"Be nice to us, Sirius," Lily said sharply.  "One day our tax dollars will pay for your prison cell."

There was an uncomfortable silence.  To Lily's surprise, Sirius didn't retort, though he did look like he wanted to; instead, he shrugged and ambled off to find if they had any kind of food somewhere.

Of course, the connection between Lily and him had been nearly entirely broken; they had not passed five words between them – until now – since the end of April.

The seventeen-year-olds were divided into groups of five alphabetically, which put James, David, and Peter together and Sirius and Lily with strangers.

Lily went with Alan Eagle, Trevor Edgecombe, Anita Eikel, and Rodney Evans.  The last one and she shared a curious glance – but Evans was too common a surname for any inquiry.  Their instructor gave them a written exam, then she tested them one at a time: first across the room, then to the lobby of the Ministry, where instructors waited to check each one off, then to Diagon Alley, and lastly to Liverpool. 

She had practiced earlier with James and David, so she had no major worries.  Anita Eikel, however, apparated too close to the wall on the first test and banged her head hard.  The instructor was not happy ("That's exactly how people are splinched, you know!")

Lily finished at a quarter to one and walked back to the waiting room to see if James and David had finished while she waited to be approved and get her license.  It was emptier by far – small groups of teens were huddled here and there, talking, waiting like her.  James and David were apparently still being tested – she didn't see them anywhere.  But Sirius was there, talking with a boy Lily didn't know.  She took a chair by the wall to wait.

Names were called every few minutes; someone would get up and follow the adult out, to return a few minutes later carrying a paper and a license.  Lily glanced at Sirius curiously; she could see a paper casually folded and sticking out of his pocket.

She jumped when her name was called – as she quickly got up and went to the door, she saw Sirius look up, surprised.

"You know that girl?" August Baird, the boy Sirius had met, asked.

"Yeah," Sirius said, turning back to him.  "Sort of."

A middle-aged man in blue robes led Lily to a room with a large desk completely covered in folders and loose papers.  Before the desk was an old-fashioned camera sitting upon a tripod.  A mechanical-looking man sat behind the desk.  He didn't look up as she entered, but pointed to the camera.  Lily stepped before it uncertainly, and hardly had she done so when there was a bright flash and she was blinking at spots all over the room.

"Thumbprint."  The man at the desk was holding out a card towards her.  Still trying to get rid of the dots, Lily looked down at it and saw her picture, blinking and looking as dazed as she felt.  She pressed her thumb against the spot he pointed to, and the card glowed yellow briefly.  The man scribbled something on the bottom of a paper, put it in a folder, turned to another folder, took out the top paper, and handed it to her with the card.  Turning to the wizard who had led her, he said curtly, "Rodney Evans."

She returned to the waiting area and saw James and David were back, now with Sirius.  She joined them, handing her card to James.

"Nice," he said, studying it.  "David and me haven't been called yet."

"All they do is snap your picture and give you the card.  Is it all right with you if I go back home now? We have to pack, since we're going over to Severus's early tomorrow, and technically I'm the only one who can do the packing charms, though Mary likes to do things her own way…."

"Fine with me.  David and me are probably going out for a bit with Sirius here – tell my mum that, all right?"

"All right.  See you later."

"I'll see you before you leave," David said.

"Of course."  Without giving Sirius a passing glance she walked out of the room towards the lifts to go down to the floo fires, then stopped short as she remembered.  Lily laughed softly to herself, then disapparated to her sister's bedroom.

Late that night she, Rose, and Mary were packing casually, Rose sitting cross-legged on her bed, reminding them not to forget this or that, while Lily and Mary did the actual packing into a couple of suitcases Natalie had loaned them.

A quick knock was heard on the door.

"Come in," Rose called.

James's head poked in, quickly followed by the rest of him.

"James!  You know it's not proper for a young man to be in a girl's bedroom, especially at night."  Rose shook a bottle of powerful, magical sunscreen at him in mock threat.

"Yes, because you know I'm here to ravish all three of you," he replied, sitting backwards in a chair to face them.  Rose found this so funny she fell backwards on the bed, laughing.  Mary tossed a pair of knickers in his face, and he thoughtfully set them on top of his head.

"Well, besides ravishing, what are you here for?"  Lily asked, picking up her wand to summon them back.

"To bother you before you leave."

"Where's David?"  Rose asked, sitting back up.

"He went over to Remus's, I think, after we left Sirius's.  Did Lily tell you we saw Sirius today at the Ministry?"

"No," Rose said, glancing at her.

"Well, he said to give you his greetings."  James pointed a finger at Mary.  There was a significant pause as Lily and Rose exchanged meaningful glances, and James, noticing, added sardonically, "And also that you should run away and elope with him instead of go off with Snape."

"Shut up," Mary said, even though she was grinning with her sisters.

Lily had added the last article and was now reinforcing the locks with a few common spells.  "All right, we're done.  Out, James, time for us to go to bed."

"But what about the ravishing?"

"Out!"  Lily pushed him through the door.

The next morning at the Ruins, Severus was eating a piece of toast as he supervised Zephy and Koly pack his luggage.  Tali appeared in the doorway, bobbing her bow.

"Master, Miss Lily is here!"

Abandoning the house-elves, Severus walked out of his room into the hallway, where he met Lily, limping along as she dragged her suitcase behind her.

"Lily!  Are you all right?"

"Yeah – just miscalculated slightly apparating, and hit my knee on that low table in the sitting room."

Severus motioned for Tali to take her luggage.  "Where are Rose and Mary?"

"Coming – by floo, of course.  David's probably down on bended knee, begging Rose before the fire grate not to go."

At that moment a voice called from the downstairs fireplaces, "We're here!"

It took perhaps fifteen minutes to get all the luggage in Severus's car, the last arrangements made, and then Severus, in the driver's seat, Lily beside him, pulled out of the garage and down the road.  Rose and Mary were in the back seat, comfortably sprawled.

A normal Muggle drive from where Severus lived to Bristol would have taken eight, ten hours – at the least.  But at intervals Severus would mutter an incantation, and the landscape outside the windows would become a blur, and when they became distinguishable again, it was an entirely different setting.

This way the journey was shortened greatly.  They stopped for lunch in Birmingham, and by seven in the evening they had reached their destination: a bed-and-breakfast beach house, named Sand Dollar Inn.  It was quite small, compared to the huge hotels they had passed in Bristol – three floors, wide balconies circling each, with outside stairs and a deck on the roof.  It was very close to the beach.

The owner was a courteous woman in her late fifties.  She welcomed them cordially, handing them the two keys to their rooms and showing them where they were – on the third floor, right to the side facing the beach.

"It's a good view of the sunset," Lily remarked, leaning over the railing.  She was wearing a thin, off-white summer dress.  It blew back in the sea wind, her loose hair lifting with it.  Severus moved to stand next to her, laying his hand on her shoulder, then sliding it down her back.  She shivered slightly and moved closer to him.

The owner's two grown sons carried their luggage upstairs.  At Mary's direction they placed Severus's bags in a room with one large bed, and all of the girls' bags in the room with two.

"Go ahead and unpack," Severus told them.  "I'm going down to ask that woman if she knows of any decent, nearby restaurants."

She did, it transpired, and after they had thrown enough of their belongings around the room so it looked vaguely homelike, the girls set out with Severus to walk the three blocks down the road where they had been told they would find a seafood restaurant.  After spending the day riding in the car, all were glad for the exercise.

The dinner was simple fare, but filling.  The other customers around them carried on a friendly banter with the waiters and waitresses that bespoke the familiarity of a small town.

By the time they left and were walking back, it was pitch black.  Severus and Lily lit their wands, playing them before their feet on the pebble-and-shell track, nervously watching for any Muggles.

They arrived back at the inn without meeting anyone, however.  The girls said goodnight to Severus on the balcony, and they retired for the night.

But an hour later, Lily slipped out of her room to go to the one next door.

The next morning, Lily crept back in her sisters' room.  Rose had been awake already, but had stayed in bed, conscious of the empty space next to her.  Mary appeared to still be sleeping, sprawled sideways in her bed, the heavy quilt on the floor, her having kicked it off during the night.

Rose sat up as Lily came in, propping up a pillow behind her.  She watched her sister's face carefully, noting her flushed cheeks and bright eyes, which served to confirm the suspicions that had already come to her.

"Good morning," said Lily, sitting on the edge of her bed.  She glanced over at Mary.  "Are you awake?"

Mary groaned and rolled over in response. 

"Are you?" Lily persisted.

Mary pulled a pillow over her face.  "Yes."

Lily frowned.  "But are you _listening_?"

"I swear, Lily, I'm listening."

Satisfied, she turned back to Rose, opened her mouth, and stopped.

Rose had an odd feeling of complete emotional detachment.  She watched Lily struggle to confess, and thought that it would be good of her to help.

"Did you sleep with him last night?"

Lily, caught off guard, flushed and looked guilty, then chanced half a glance at Mary, who, for one of the few times in her life, was lying absolutely still with the pillow over her face.

"Yes," she said finally, twisting the edge of her robe.  She added quickly, as though in defense, "Remember, Rose, our agreement was that I wouldn't while I was still sixteen and in school – "

"I remember," Rose interrupted, still feeling that strange detachment.  "So how was it?"

Lily was rather taken aback by her sister's calm, almost indifferent attitude.  She swallowed and looked over at Mary, who still hadn't moved.  "All right, Mary?"

The pillow nodded.

Unconvinced, Lily returned to Rose's question.  "It was all right.  He was gentle, since it was my first time, you know…."

"Did he give you any kind of contraceptive?"

She nodded, biting her lip.

"A potion?"

Lily nodded again.

"Good.  You know his potion marks, it'll be perfectly reliable."

"Yeah – well, I said I'd go back over there to take a shower and change…we're eating breakfast downstairs, so I'll see you there, all right?"  With a half-smile, Lily backed out of the room.

With her went Rose's feeling of detachment.  She looked up at the ceiling and let out a great sigh, which treacherously cracked into a small sob.  Mary peeked out at her from beneath her pillow.

"You all right, Rose?"

"Yes," she said, struggling to keep her voice even for that single syllable.  She took another breath, controlling herself.  "I – I'm going to go ahead and take a shower."  She left quickly for the bathroom, but once she had the door shut, she sat down on the toilet lid, grabbed a towel to press to her mouth, and cried silently.     


	20. Part Five of Book SEven

**_Part Five_**

Looking back at that week, Lily placed it as one of the best times of her life – a rare, almost sacred moment when the world seemed beautifully perfect, and nothing amiss in the air. Rose, too, smiled in retrospect at her memories of it, despite the tears of that first morning. It was all right, after all; Lily was ecstatically happy. It was silly of her to cry.

Mary, surprisingly, accepted Lily's choice much easier than Rose did. Being Mary, and therefore more practical than Rose, she had Lily on a different kind of pedestal; she revered her, but did not expect her to be perfect – only normal. Severus and Mary had reached the point where they enjoyed each other's company without any shadow of Lily between them. When Lily and Rose went off to look through a shop, Mary would remain behind with Severus to talk of this or that.

On the day of their departure – the next Friday – they got a bit of a late start, and it was quite dark by the time Severus drove through the gate to the Ruins. All of the girls were asleep.

Only Mary awoke when the car stopped. Yawning, she sat up, looking around blearily, and stopped as she felt the crick in her neck. "Ooh – ow –"

Severus turned in his seat to face her. "Mary, it's rather late for you to go back to the Potters'; you and Rose and Lily can spend the rest of the night here, then go back in the morning."

"Mm-hmm." She rubbed her eyes. "Rose, wake up, we're here."

Stepping out of the car, Severus saw Zephy bowing in the doorway.

"Zephy is glad for Masters' safe return, sir…." The elf scurried behind the car to get the luggage from the trunk. Severus walked around to where Lily, having been prodded awake by Mary, was now stretching outside the car.

"Lily, it's so late, you can stay here for the night," he repeated to her.

"Right," she murmured, allowing him to lead her into the house, Rose and Mary following.

Severus showed them to the old room they had used last summer; however, he took Lily across the hall to his own.

The next morning, after a quick bite, the girls collected their luggage and prepared to return to the Potters' house – Rose and Mary through the fire, Lily apparating.

But Severus pulled her back to him after her sisters went through. "Now you can apparate, Lily, so you have no excuse. I want to see you every day –"

"Every _day_?" The idea of her casually telling Natalie she was going over to her wholly unsupervised boyfriend's house made her flinch. She knew, from her conversation previously with Natalie, that Natalie wouldn't make a great deal of it, but all the same Lily was reluctant to press a confrontation with her guardian, with whom hitherto she had never had a conflict.

"Every night, then, if you want to be exact," he said firmly, holding her by the waist to keep her from moving away.

"I don't know…"

"Lily, it's not a great feat. I have faith in your abilities to apparate here each night, and back in the morning."

"I don't know if I'll be able to sneak away every night. But when I can, I will."

He let her go reluctantly.

"Where _were_ you?" bellowed James's voice the instant she appeared back in the Potters' living room. "I thought you said you'd be back yesterday!"

"I just told you," said Mary, sounding exasperated. "It was too late when we go back to come back here, so we just spent the night at Severus's."

"Bull," muttered David, fiercely hugging Rose. "We were waiting up."

Lily smiled and touched her fingers over her heart. "I'm touched." She caught sight of James giving her an odd look – partly shrewd, partly suspicious. "What?"

"Nothing," he said, but continued to eye her. "You look different."

Lily's heart gave a guilty extra beat. Trying not to blush, she said seriously, "Why, but so do you, James. You look one week older."

David let out a snort of laughter. "You've been hanging around us for too long."

Lily was hesitant at first about sneaking over to Severus's, but she grew bolder as her sisters covered up for her. She still didn't go every night, but often.

One night, nearing the end of July, Lily lay awake in the Potters' house, thinking in the bed she and Rose shared. Turning, she scrutinized her sister, then, in a loud whisper: "Rose? You awake?"

"Mmmph."

"Rose? Rooose."

"Whaaat."

"Wake up. I want to talk. Please?"

Rose groaned and rolled over to face her, eyes opened blearily. "What?"

"I want to talk," Lily said again.

Sighing, Rose repositioned her pillow. "What about?"

"I don't know. Are you and David going to get married?"

She frowned, seeming to think she misheard her. "What?"

Lily repeated more slowly, "Are you and David going to get married?"

"I don't know. I suppose so."

Lily poked her. "Do you talk about it?"

"Well, yeah." She smiled. "Named our kids…planned it all out. Do you and Severus?"

Lily didn't answer.

"Do you?"

"No…not really."

"Do you think you will?"

"I…don't know. I know we're both madly in love, but – it's so different from your relationship."

Rose smiled understandingly. "I know."

"It's different," Lily repeated. "It's hard for me to even imagine him thinking about marriage. I really don't know."

"You'll be happy," Rose said firmly. "However it ends up."

"I hope so," Lily said softly.

Rose watched her face. "I think Severus might be thinking of getting married. Never a big wedding, but something."

"Mmm. Do you think Mary and Sirius will ever get married?"

She smothered a laugh. "Oh, I hope so. They need to, honestly. Do you think they ever will?"

Lily considered this. "Perhaps. When they're old and Mary finally gets past her pride, or whatever it is that's holding her back."

Rose yawned. "Yeah."

Lily grinned at her. "I suppose you can go back to sleep."

"Thank you, Lily."

* * *

Severus walked down Abbey Lane, stopping again before The Labyrinth. He studied the display window for several minutes before entering. 

Another attendant rose to offer assistance, but he went straight to business. Pointing out a ring – a silver band, with a cold, hard, marquise-cut diamond set in the center, and three emeralds on either side leading from it – he said, "That one, please."

* * *

On the first of August, two owls made their appearance at the Potters' residence. They deposited one letter each in the laps of Lily and James, who were sitting outside by the pool with Rose, Mary, David, and Remus and Peter, who had come to visit. Petunia was gone seeing Vernon. 

"It's too early for supply lists," James said, frowning as he studied the Hogwarts seal.

"And a bit selective," Peter added.

Lily, however, had a sudden suspicion of what the letters might be. Quickly slitting hers open, a shiny badge with the letters HG fell into her lap, just as –

_"Head Boy?"_ shouted David, leaping to his feet. "How the bloody hell are you Head Boy?"

"Well, why shouldn't I be Head Boy?" James asked, sounding injured.

"And I'm Head Girl," Lily said, staring at her badge and letter in a dazed sort of way. David waved this information away impatiently.

"Well, of course you're Head Girl, there's no reason why you shouldn't be, except that you're going out with a Slytherin – but _you!_ Head _Boy!"_

_"So?"_

"After everything you've pulled! I'm surprised they didn't pick Sirius, if they're going to disregard all that –"

"Except for the minor detail that Sirius tried to kill someone last year," Peter interrupted.

"Which isn't really considered to be Head Boy material," Remus continued. "It comes across as a bit unstable."

"But James –"

"Sod _off."_ Finally tired of it, James had gotten up and pushed his brother into the pool.

David came up, sputtering and wild-eyed, looking around at everyone as though he expected them to testify as witnesses to this. "See? That's not how a Head Boy should act!"

Rose was laughing the loudest, even as she and Remus helped pull David out.

"Whoa now, Rose, control yourself," Remus said grinning.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, because you know I'm about to throw him down and rip his clothes off right here."

Eagerly David held his arms out expectantly, but when Rose made no move to fulfill her threat, he let them fall sadly.

"Cheer up, mate, your day will come," Remus said, slapping him on the back.

"Your mum'll have a big dinner tonight to celebrate, won't she?" Peter asked.

" 'Course. And we'll call Sirius over." James glanced at Lily, who only shrugged coolly.

The celebration dinner in honor of the new Head Boy and Girl went well, in Lily's opinion, even if Sirius was there. But she and he had learned how to ignore each other very well. When they (the teens, that is – Natalie and Joseph Potter had long since retired for the night) finally went off to their respective bedrooms, Lily disapparated to tell Severus the news, and consequently, returned a bit later the next morning than she usually did.

Later on that day, Lily borrowed Mary's broom to fly around in their Quidditch arena. She still loved flying, though never in even one of the casual games her sisters and the boys played.

Now she soared around the arena, looping around the goal posts. There were a number of rooms around the indoor arena that had windows looking in, and Lily soon located Petunia's. Hovering beside it, she impishly knocked on the pane of glass. Inside, she saw Petunia jump and look around, startled, from where she had been sitting at her writing desk. Lily waved. Her sister stood and walked over to the window, pushing it open.

"Hello, Petunia." Lily did a few loops below her.

Petunia watched her silently, eyes narrowed. "Witch," she said quietly.

"Yep," said Lily cheerfully. "So how was your day yesterday?"

"Adequate." Petunia sat on the windowsill. "Here comes that friend of yours."

"What?" Lily turned on her broom; James was walking across the concrete floor beneath them. When she turned back to tell Petunia the name of that friend of hers, she was gone.

With a shrug, Lily dove down to where James was standing, holding his Blur across his shoulders.

"Talking to Petty?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Mind if I fly with you?"

Lily laughed. "It's your house." But she eyed him, suddenly wary, as he mounted the broom and rose to her level with casual skill. "But I'm not going to play a miniature game with you."

He waved his hand, brushing this aside. "No, I just wanted to talk."

"Oh?"

James started to fly around the arena, Lily keeping up with him easily. "Well, this year we're going to be Head Boy and Girl. They do a lot around the school, right?"

She nodded. "More than just the prefect duties, I know."

He shot between two goal posts and up, Lily following. "Yeah, you would."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be able to dump it all on me," Lily said unconcernedly.

"Yeah, probably. You think Snape will like you being Head Girl – with me?"

Lily bit her tongue, having almost slipped in her answer. "He ought to be pleased enough for me, though I'm sure he'll think it's outrageous you're Head Boy."

James snorted. "Tell him my brother agrees with him." They slowed down, coming to a stop very high up. "Lily?" he said to his broom handle, studying it very closely.

"Yes?"

He cleared his throat. "We – that is, us, the Marauders – no, but really just me – er, I was wondering, when you went on that holiday with Snape…"

Lily watched him struggle without pity. He was about to ask a very, very personal question, and even if he was one of her closest friends in the world, she wasn't about to help him. She still wasn't sure if she'd even tell him.

"– what I mean is, erm, if you – and Snape, ah –"

"You can stop now," Lily said bluntly. Even with his head down, she could see his cheeks reddening. Lily twisted on her broom so she sat sideways, legs hanging over the same side, facing him. "Now, what _I_ want to know," she began, very seriously, "is who's asking. Is James asking – or Sirius, Peter, and the rest?" She bent her head so she could look in his face. He finally looked up at her.

"I am."

"And if I answer, who am I telling?"

"Me. Just me."

"If the others want to know, they have to ask themselves," she continued steadily.

"Right. So – I'm asking."

She studied him, knowing that even a certain hesitancy might confirm the answer for him. Finally, she decided. "We did."

He blinked. "Oh. Ah."

Lily couldn't help but smile slightly. "It's all right, James. We've been going out for nearly two years. I was ready."

He swallowed – she could see his Adam's apple bob. "Yeah. All right. I was just wondering."

She frowned, bothered by his reaction and not understanding why she was. She had decided after she came home that should the boys find out, she would not let herself be troubled by whatever reaction they might have.

Seeing the look on her face, James added, "I was wondering. David did ask Rose when you came back, but she wouldn't say."

"Of course not," said Lily, rather haughtily.

"Yeah…" He tried to grin, but it came out crooked. "So, er…that was your first time?"

She nodded, and suddenly felt an urge to confide, so, as Rose or Mary was not conveniently hovering around them fifty feet up – "Yes, though Severus had been asking for a long time – you know, boys." She smiled thinly. "It was all right."

James was giving her that odd look again. "When you say 'a long time'," he said carefully, "do you mean since last summer, when you were at his house?"

"Well – the first time he actually asked me was back around Christmas of our fifth year."

He stared. "_Fifth_ year? You mean sixth."

"Fifth," she corrected patiently. "Same year we started going out."

"But – you were just a baby!"

Lily drew herself up. "I was fifteen. Hardly an infant."

"A _baby,_" James repeated.

"I was not a _child_, James. Anyway, we didn't do it then, obviously, so it doesn't matter."

"I can't believe he was asking you something like that back then – actually, this is Snape, so I can."

Lily spun sharply on her broom, so that the tail hit him in the face.

"Ow."

"You deserved that. But let's talk about something else, all right?"

James rubbed his face where her broom had hit him. "Such as?"

"Such as…well, what happened to you and Charlotte?"

He raised his eyebrows questioningly. "Was there something to happen to?"

"Well, you took her to the dance – "

"– as Sirius took Mary," he finished pointedly.

"Don't try to change the subject. What happened?"

He sighed. "Nothing. She was a little too young. Why do you care so much about it?"

"Because, James, you're seventeen, and, as far as I know, you haven't had a real girlfriend for any period of time."

"I've had a girlfriend!" he said indignantly. "The summer after our third year our neighbors, the Paynes, had a niece visiting for a few months."

Surprised, she raised her eyebrows. "You never told us about that."

"Yeah…well, Sirius knew. It wasn't anything serious, not like David and Rose. Just a fling."

"Well, besides that – hasn't there ever been a girl you had an incredible, obsessive crush on?"

He looked at her strangely. "I have, actually." He was looking at her as though sizing her up, deciding if she could handle something. "There was a time – back in the beginning of fifth year, actually – when I thought I was in love with you."

Lily stared, her lips slightly parted and not knowing it.

"Of course," he continued quickly, "I got over it as you and Snape kept at it, and now you and I are cool, right?" He grinned cheekily in proof. "But –" he hesitated again, his grin fading as he became serious again, almost uncertain – "every now and then, I think I still am."

She looked down, staring at the ground far below them. Her hands were gripping the broom handle so tightly that Mary would have permanent indentions in the wood.

After a moment, she heard him mutter, "Look, forget it – I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that – "

"No," Lily interrupted, now twisting the handle, "don't apologize." She was remembering what she hadn't for months – the wild, sudden swooping sensations she had had before Severus approached, the feelings she had once thought surpassed any interest in her Potions partner. _I had a crush on Jame_s, she thought. _I did. _She looked back up at James's face, which was creased slightly in anxiety. As she held his gaze, the next thought came to her suddenly, without any prompting, and with certainty: _And I still do._

She gasped out loud, pulling the broom so she shot a few feet away. _No! I'm in love with Severus, I know I am – _and it was true, as soon as she thought of her boyfriend she felt the usual accompanying emotions. But there was no denying she had felt almost the same stirrings as she looked in James's face.

Lily didn't hear his tentative, "Lily? Are you all right?" She was too busy thinking. _Stop it, Lily, you're being ridiculous. You love Severus. You've been loving him for nearly two years. And you've known and _not_ been in love with James for about six years. So stop it._

Composed, she turned back around. "I'm going to go back inside now."

"Er – all right."

She didn't look at him as they flew to the ground and walked back inside the house.

The next day Lily apparated to Remus's house. She had been there only twice before; Remus's parents had spent a lot of money on their son when he was bitten, following the strict Ministry regulations, and so their house held no luxuries. It had always been easier for the friends to meet up at the Potters' instead.

"Hello, Mrs. Lupin."

Mrs. Lupin, a woman who looked older than her years with circles under her eyes and gray streaks through her hair, blinked at her for a moment as though trying to place her face, then smiled. "Well, hello Lily. Come in. I'll go get Remus."

Lily stepped into the small room as Mrs. Lupin turned and went down the hall. A few moments later Remus appeared.

He grinned at her. "Hey Lily. Er, do you want to take a walk?"

"All right."

They stepped outside. The Lupins had moved to a deserted area in the country as part of their precautions – the only building visible was an old barn quite a ways away.

"So did you get your Apparation license and license to do magic?"

He sighed. "Yeah, finally. They made me take the Apparation test twice, and the exam so I could actually use my wand outside of school was hard."

"But you got through it, of course. You had to have after all the studying the boys did with you."

"Yeah." Remus ran a hand through his hair. "So how's Severus?"

"Oh, he's good." Lily hesitated for the smallest second. "Some nights I sneak over to see him, since I can apparate now."

"Really." He looked amused.

"Yeah. Don't – don't tell anyone, okay? Rose and Mary know, of course, but not anyone else."

"It's all right." He looked at her quizzically. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

_Oh, here we go again._ "Of course, Remus."

"Have you and Severus slept together?"

An amused part of her mind noted how easily Remus had been able to ask compared to James. The other part of her mind was getting angry at her hesitancy to answer and possibly lose his respect. But she nodded.

He nodded with her. "I thought you might have."

She said nothing, keeping her eyes on the dirt road.

"So are you getting married?"

This had the exact effect he wanted – Lily stopped, breaking into laughter. "Remus!"

He put on an innocent face. "What?"

And that was all that was said about it.

Lily had considered, and finally rejected, the idea of telling him about her and James's conversation yesterday – especially the last part. She had the feeling that to say it out loud might make it more real.

That night she disapparated to Severus's, intent upon fully banishing all of the disturbing sentiments of the day before.

She found Severus in a room she knew he spent a good deal of time in when he wasn't with her. It was the beginnings of a laboratory, with a few cauldrons, several shelves of books, stores and stores of dozens of kinds of ingredients, and rows of different kinds of jars and phials. Not that it was organized in any way, oh no. Books lay open on the table, splattered with different potions. The floor was nearly covered with powders.

Severus was sitting on a stool beside a cauldron, bent over a book. He did not look up when she entered, though she knew he knew she was there.

Coming to a stand behind him, she placed her hands on his shoulders. "Taking advantage of being of age, I see."

He didn't look up. "You shouldn't be in here. I'm not exactly following the rules in making common potions."

Peering over his shoulder, she saw he was not studying a recipe. "I've been with you before when you experimented."

"It isn't safe." He glanced at the cauldron, and she followed his gaze. A thickish-looking, red-orange potion was swirling slowly, but a white line of foam had appeared on the surface, near the edge of the cauldron, and as they watched, started to wind around , spiraling towards the center –

"Ah."

Despite herself, Lily stepped back. "Is it going to explode?"

"Hand me that – " He pointed behind her, to a bundle of plants. She quickly handed them to him, and he threw them in the cauldron. "Now it won't."

Breathing an inaudible sigh of relief, she stepped back towards him. "Are you going to find a place to stop anytime soon, or should I just come back tomorrow night?"

At this threat, he straightened and spun around on his stool to face her for the first time. She smiled, letting him know she wasn't serious.

He inclined his head. "Go on upstairs. I'll be there in a minute."

She watched as Severus took his wand, which had been lying a few feet away, and waved an incantation over the potion, then ladling a sample into a nearby glass bottle. As he took off his specially-made dragonhide gloves and saw her still standing there, he added, "Go on. I need to clean up."

Lily left, walking the now-familiar way to Severus's bedroom, passing the house-elf Tali, who curtsied and murmured a welcome to "Miss Lily."

As promised, Severus appeared a few minutes later, face, hair, and hands glistening from being freshly scrubbed, and carrying the usual purple-colored potion. She smiled at him as she drank it.

Without further ado, he closed the gap between them and kissed her very lightly on the lips. She reached up, setting her hands around his shoulders, and the kiss deepened –

– and she was seeing James's face again, James as he was sitting on his broom, brow furrowed in honest concern – _"every now and then, I think I still am – "_

Lily gasped, pulling away and almost stumbling backwards.

"What? What is it?" Severus had started forwards, looking puzzled.

"I – nothing." Her heart was beating fast – what _was_ that? It had been so sudden, so real…

"Are you all right?"

She forced herself to look up at him. "Yes – yes, I'm fine. Sorry."

Somewhat appeased, Severus approached her again. As their lips met James's face came into her mind once more, but she pushed it aside, tried to ignore it….

Afterward, she lay awake, staring up at the ceiling, a splitting headache pounding above her left eye. It had started quickly, as things had gotten heavy, and even now, with Severus asleep at her side, it would not relent. Lily pressed her palms against her forehead, willing every ounce of magic in her body to quell the pain. For a moment she thought it had abated, but then it was back, full-force. Slowly she laid her arms back down by her side.

What was wrong with her? She had had a simple, girlish crush on James years ago, but had been dating and in love with Severus for nearly _two years._ Why was it that now she could not get him out of her head, especially at times when she should certainly not be thinking of anyone other than Severus?

Lily turned slightly so she lay on her side, facing him. Raising a hand – she noticed it was trembling – she slowly traced a line down her boyfriend's face, so lightly that even he did not wake. She bit her lip, feeling a lump growing at the back of her throat, of pain and confusion and misery, and pressing her hand to her mouth to muffle all sound, she cried into her lover's pillow.

**_

* * *

_**

In the morning, Lily appeared back in her bedroom as Rose and Mary were still getting dressed. She sat down heavily on the end of her bed. The headache was at least fading, though it did not make her feel any better.

"I think I'm losing my mind." The words slipped out.

Rose and Mary exchanged an alarmed look, then moved, Rose to crouch before her, Mary sitting beside on the bed.

"Why, Lily? What's wrong?" Rose whispered.

Lily only shook her head, even more reluctant to say it out loud. "I don't know what's happening."

* * *

And that was the last full night she ever spent in Severus's house. She did try again a few days later, but in half an hour the migraine had returned, and to such a degree she was afraid she might be sick. Frightened, she had formed some excuse and disapparated, just in time to really be sick in the bathroom. Mary very nearly went off to fetch Natalie, but Lily, with every ounce of power she held over her sisters, called her back. 

She kept to her room as much as possible over the ensuing days, only coming down when she had to – usually for dinner with the Potters.

"Are you feeling all right, Lily? You look a bit peaky."

Startled, Lily looked up at Mr. Potter. "Oh – yes, I'm – I'm fine."

Natalie, her concern caught, studied her too. "Are you sure? You do look rather pale."

She smiled reassuringly. "Really, I feel fine." But she caught James's gaze, who was frowning slightly as he looked at her, and she hurriedly looked away.

After the meal was finished, Lily was walking back up to her room when she heard James call her. Her stomach lurched, but she steadied herself and turned to face him.

James came up to meet her where she stood at the foot of the stairs. "Hey, I just wanted to make sure you felt all right – the other day, when we were going to go out for a drive, Rose said you didn't feel well enough to come along either –"

"James, I wasn't lying. I'm _fine._"

Still doubtful, he raised a hand as though to lay it on her forehead to check for a fever. Panicking, she retreated backwards against the wall. After a moment, James lowered his hand.

"Look," he said slowly, "I hope that what I said – our conversation back the other week – isn't bothering you. I mean, that was a long time ago –"

"I know," said Lily hastily. "I know, it's not that."

"– because I wouldn't want that to bother you and Snape's relationship. That was just a way I felt years ago."

She did not find that comforting. If she really was (for the first time, she forced herself to put it into words) being unwillingly drawn away from Severus and towards James, the only way to add to the nightmare would be if he no longer reciprocated her feelings. _But you said sometimes!_ she wanted to cry.

Perhaps some of that desperation showed in her face, for James did not look away but held her gaze, concern clear as ever. Looking back into his face, his dark eyelashes curled slightly over his hazel eyes, Lily felt paralyzed. She simply could not look away. Suddenly, she realized she had taken a step forward, and now voices were whispering in the back of her mind, _get closer, you know you want to kiss him_ – dazedly, she wondered if this was what it was like to be under the Imperius Curse –

That thought did it. With great difficulty, Lily broke eye contact, stumbling sideways, then flying up the stairs, nearly tripping in her haste, and stopped at the top only to wheel around and shrill, "Stop it!" then tear down the hall to her room, leaving behind a very confused James.

Slamming the bedroom door behind her, Lily walked across the room, breathing hard, seeing nothing, oblivious to Rose and Mary staring at her. She clenched her fists, feeling a wild urge to hit something, to scream, but she didn't know what she wanted to scream.

"Lily…" Rose said tentatively, her brush in hand.

She whirled towards them, on the verge of hysteria, and her next words showed it. Casting each of them a desperate glance, she cried, "I'm falling in love with James and I can't stop!"

Mary was the first to react. Moving forward quickly, she took her by the shoulders and led her to sit down on the end of a bed. "Calm down, Lily. Calm. Down."

"No, you don't understand, I'm going crazy –"

"No. No, you're not." Mary kept her hands firmly on her shoulders, looking steadily into her face.

Rose set the brush down on the dressing table, having initially frozen at Lily's wild declaration, and knelt at her feet, taking both of her hands in hers silently.

Under Mary's even gaze and hands, Lily grew calmer, though still terribly distraught. She took a deep, shuddering breath and, in a broken voice, told them everything, starting with what James had told her on his broom, to what had happened at Severus's house, and then just now on the stairs. They listened in silence.

When she had finished, Lily was surprised to find that though the problem had not moved an inch closer to any solution, she felt better. She wasn't alone anymore in handling this. But she hadn't been alone; she was never alone in anything, she would always have her sisters there. Lily didn't know why this thought struck her so forcefully at that moment, but it did. As she looked at their anxious faces before her, she knew they would always support her, whether she was right or wrong, and for Rose, even if it came to breaking up with David.

She shook off that last thought, and returning to the situation at hand, asked, "What do you think I should do?"

Mary straightened. "Well, the first thing you're going to do is get ready to go to bed."

So she did. Rose, returning to her childhood habit, insisted on brushing out Lily's hair herself. She took her time, pulling the brush with especial gentleness. When they were done, they curled up together on one bed, not unlike how their cats lay together. And then they talked.

To someone standing behind their bathroom door, or outside their window, only bits and pieces of the conversation was audible. There were no more tears or hysteria, only the soft murmur of voices.

"…are you sure it's not something temporary?"

"…James could…"

"But Severus does deserve your honesty…"

The low voices continued for over an hour, and then were concluded with the words,

"We'll wait, then. Wait and see."

There were a little over two weeks left in the summer holidays. Before they went back to school, they would see.

It was the very next day, and David was taking Rose out in the car.

"David."

"Yes, my darling."

She smiled before continuing. "Did James ever have a crush on Lily?"

He paused. "Yeah, once. Why do you ask?"

"I'm curious. You said once…"

"Yeah, before she went out with Snape."

"Oh." Another moment of silence. "Do you think he might still have a little something for her?"

David hesitated again. Both of them had always strongly felt a loyalty to their brother and sister respectively, even above their loyalty to each other. "He could," he said at last evasively. "I don't know, we haven't talked about it."

Rose did not pursue the subject.

* * *

**Author notes:** Sincere apologies for this taking so long. Keep reviewing, guys, and I'll feel guilty enough to post more quicker. Give me your honest thoughts! 

Snickers – yes, I do type my story on Microsoft Word. I use 8 font, and for page setup I keep it at half an inch on either side. Using both of those cheating methods, I tried to keep it at four pages a part, but it's growing longer now. This chapter's seven pages. If you all would like me to keep them shorter, all right, but I warn you there's going to be a lot of chapters.


	21. Book Eight: Despair and Recovery

**Book Eight – Despair and Recovery**

_**Part One**_

Apollo arrived, bearing a letter from Severus asking why she wasn't coming over. Lily had difficulty writing a reply.

Two weeks passed, with Lily keeping zealously away from James. She finished her summer schoolwork, checked over her sisters, went out with Petunia (when she let her, which wasn't often), and frequented Diagon Alley. Apollo came again and again, and finally Lily could only write, "I'll see you at Hogwarts." But the headaches and sudden waves of nausea returned, even though she didn't meet with Severus. It didn't take her long to realize the only times she never felt sick was when James was nearest.

Insomnia was added to the equation, mostly from waking sharply with a splitting headache. Mary had found herbal remedies in the Practical Magic book that helped somewhat, but still left her awake.

Lily rested her forehead one night against the cool glass pane. "This is sick," she whispered bitterly. "Sick and twisted." She heard Mary shift behind her, still awake after giving her the potion, and continued, whispering. "I feel like I'm in a trap. A noose is tightening, not giving me any more choices. I have to date James or I can't be happy."

It was a moment before Mary spoke. "Lily...you have to talk to him. James. You have to straighten this out with him."

Lily did not answer.

Nevertheless, it was very soon after this that Lily gave in. Both Rose and Mary urged her to talk to James, and so after breakfast one morning she stopped them.

"I need to talk to you."

He blinked. "I was going to go fly with Sirius, but all right." Turning to David, he said, "Tell Sirius I'll catch him up."

Lily led the way to an empty sitting room.

"So what's up?" James asked, closing the door.

Lily caught sight of her reflection in a mirror. She was even more pale than usual, with shadows under her eyes. She hadn't been this thin since fourth year. _When it all started_, she caught herself thinking. Pushing that away, she turned to James.

"I...look, sit down." She sat down herself across from him. "I don't know where to start or how to explain this." A pause as she thought, James sitting uneasily. "I have to ask first – do you like me? But it doesn't matter if you do or not," she continued without giving him time to answer, "not to me right now, it can't help anything. You see, ever since that day we found out we were Head Boy and Girl, and we talked out on our brooms, I haven't been able to do anything with Severus – yes, I see him, I apparate to his house some nights – but I haven't been able to, because of _you._ I haven't had a crush on you since I was about fourteen, but now, for no reason at all, I can't stop thinking about you. Even _right now_, as I sit here, I'm attracted to you. So I don't know what I'm going to do, because I know I still love Severus even if I can't so much as hug him without seeing you and feeling literally sick. And, to top it all off, I'm quite sure you don't feel the same way about me anymore, so clearly, I'm fucked."

She finished staring straight out of the window, as she had the entire time she talked, body tense. James stared at her in shock, incredulous.

Lily was looking ahead fixedly, terribly aware of every sound – or lack of sound. James had not said a word. But she didn't move a fraction of an inch, waiting. Then, the sound of a chair creaking, footsteps, and she became aware of James squatting next to her. He touched her hand, and she jerked away.

"Don't, James."

"Lily...I don't understand. How – why – are you saying –" James was apparently trying to organize what he wanted to make clear first. "Are you breaking up with Snape?"

"I don't know. That's what I'm trying to work out now." She looked at him for the first time, something fierce in her gaze. "Do you like me?"

He looked taken aback. "I don't know – I did –"

"Just forget about Severus for a moment, James! _Do you like me?_"

James looked into her face, and suddenly sighed. What he had tried to deny, even to himself, for so long was impossible to deny now. "Yes. Yes, I do."

Lily felt like crying.

Half an hour later, Lily walked outside, where Rose and Mary sat on a bench, talking quietly. They stopped immediately when they saw her and watched as she came before them.

"I'm breaking up with him," Lily said expressionlessly. She looked out across the bright lawn. "Once we get back to Hogwarts, I expect."

Neither of them said anything for a moment. Then, very gently – "What did James say, Lily?"

"He said he likes me," she said with no enthusiasm.

"Well – that's good, isn't it? It would have been worse if he hadn't."

Lily shrugged wordlessly.

There were five days left of the summer. Five long, hellish days. Lily thought she might not make it without a nervous breakdown. True, the insomnia, headaches, and nausea had left promptly after she talked to James, so now she was simply unaided in her unhappiness. She had made her choice; now she had to question herself as to whether it was right. Was she justified in leaving Severus after a nearly two-year relationship, after everything they had been through, after everything they had done? Was she acting prematurely, hastily? But she would talk to him, as soon as they got back to Hogwarts. He did deserve to know it all. But that led to another horrible problem: what would she say to him? How could she explain it? _I'm sorry, Severus, really, but I've fallen in love with James. It's been fun, see you around! _Never. She honestly did not want to break up with him.

Lily now knew what it was like to love someone so much, it ached. And it went both ways – towards Severus and James.

But, after each time she thought everything over and ran it all through her mind, she could not find a reason why she should lie to Severus and try to go on with him.

Not then, anyway.

She and James had come to terms, of sorts. They did not speak of any kind of relationship between them, and he was careful to never touch her any more than a hand to her shoulder. For now, it was simple: he was a friend, helping her as she broke up with her boyfriend. After that was over, they would find out how they stood.

They were drawn together inadvertently, as well, by the Head Boy and Girl business. More owls arrived, bearing instructions as to their responsibilities on the train. To Lily's relief, she found that this almost guaranteed she wouldn't have to see Severus on the way there. _I'll talk to him after the feast_, she decided.

Two days before September the first, James cautiously brought up another difficulty.

"Are you planning on telling the others – that is, Sirius and the rest?"

Lily froze, horrorstruck. "No."

"Er – all right."

"No, I meant – _I'm_ certainly not going to. You should."

He looked alarmed. "I couldn't."

"Of course you can. They're your best friends. All right, I can talk to Remus, but – please, James? I don't want you to explain anything, just tell them we're breaking up."

So later that afternoon, James found himself standing outside of Quality Quidditch Supplies with Sirius, David, and Peter. They were discussing the newest item on display – a sort of polish that promised to make your broom glide more swiftly through the air.

"Rubbish," said Sirius scornfully. "I know that company, I bought one of their compasses, it pulled my broom to the ground every time."

"I don't know," Peter said, frowning. "I heard they are under new management."

"I wouldn't trust it," Sirius said. "But hey, maybe Lily would be interested in getting it for her dear Snape...he could try it out as a new hair product, if it fails for his broom."

As they laughed, James saw his opportunity. "Actually, she wouldn't."

David looked at him, nonplussed. "What?"

"Lily wouldn't be interested," he repeated. "Her and Snape are breaking up."

Sirius, David, and Peter stared. Indifferent, James picked up a copy of _Which Broomstick_ off a nearby rack.

Sirius, as expected, got his voice back first. "You're serious?"

"Yeah," James said matter-of-factly. "They're breaking up."

Another moment of silence, and then Peter said incredulously, _"How come?"_

James looked up from the magazine and grinned at him. "You sound so disappointed."

"You can't pretend this is some expected casual thing," said David sharply.

"Sure I can," said James, looking back down at the magazine.

"_James._" David stepped forward and jerked it away. "Why are they breaking up?"

"And how do you know?" Peter added, frowning.

James ignored him, giving his attention to David's question. "That," he said firmly, "is entirely Lily's business."

"And yours," said Sirius suddenly. They all turned to look at him. He had a glittering, suspecting look in his eye. "Isn't it, Prongs?"

For a moment James studied him. Then he said evenly, "Sirius, you're my best mate, but we're not going to get into this right now."

Sirius raised a hand and shook his head, still smiling. "I'm not asking to get into it. I'm just asking one question. Isn't it your business too?"

James hesitated a split second, then said resolutely, "No."

Sirius laughed. "Right." Still smiling in a disturbingly knowing way, he started walking towards the Leaky Cauldron. "Come on, I'll treat all of you."

"Padfoot!" James leaped to catch up with him. "Padfoot, if you say one word about this to either of them – "

"James, James. Stop worrying, you know I'm not so malicious. And why would I bother them? Really."

Back at the Potters, Lily and Remus were talking in the same room she had met James in.

"I still don't' really understand why –"

"Good," said Lily flatly. "Neither do I. And I'm not trying to get you to understand, I'm only letting you know."

"Well, then I know." Remus came to stand by her, and after a moment gently lay an arm around her shoulders. She leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Don't you go anywhere, all right?" she said impulsively.

"I'm not."

Lily entered the railway station with no small feeling of trepidation. She had a sudden urge to ask James for his Invisibility Cloak. But there were no pale boys with long black hair in sight, and Lily hurried on board and to the Head Boy and Girl's carriage.

She and James were soon busy instructing the new prefects, and once they were gone, James fell to examining their admittedly much nicer carriage. He soon found the hidden niches of where pillows and snacks were kept. Lily, however, didn't think she would be able to eat.

A few hours into the journey, Rose turned up.

"Lily, I saw Severus –"

Lily's innards promptly evaporated.

"– I told him you'd see him after dinner, all right?"

She nodded and returned to the window. She heard the door gently shut.

The Great Hall, so empty and still (save the professors), now swarmed with students. Severus moved through the crowd toward his table and managed to secure a seat facing the Gryffindor table.

He saw Lily appear shortly, surrounded as always by her sisters and friends. Studying her as closely as he always had, he thought she was strikingly pale and drawn, no sign of the usual smile at her lips. Her Head Girl badge glinted in the candlelight. The group settled in their long-established places, Lily staring down at the table. She never raised her eyes.

As the Sorting began, Severus watched the Gryffindor table. The Marauders talked among themselves as usual, but their eyes seemed to flicker towards Lily, and perhaps it was Severus's imagination, but every now and then they glanced in his direction, too. Rose and Mary talked as well, Rose as though she was trying to cover Lily's silence. Severus knew what he was looking for - a sign, a reason why Lily had stopped coming over. Had she been sick? But why hadn't she come out and said so?

Severus was distracted when the Sorting, finished and Dumbledore set out the feast, but kept his eyes on the table over. Rose tried to tempt Lily to eat, but she shook her head.

Finally, there came a moment when Mary happened to look up and past the others. Severus caught her eye and motioned to Lily. Mary reached behind Rose and touched Lily's shoulder, speaking a few words. For the first time, Lily looked towards him, and then rose from her seat and walked across the hall to his table. She sat down in an empty seat next to him.

"Are you all right?" Severus asked, taking her hand, which was lying in her lap.

She nodded. Before he could say anything else, she spoke in a low voice. "Meet me outside around ten o'clock - in the garden, all right?"

Slightly surprised, he agreed. Lily stood and returned to her table, where she crossed her arms and buried her face down in them.

When the feast and announcements were finished, it was easy to get swept up in the tide of Gryffindors through the castle to the seventh floor. James gave the new password - "Afer Ventus."

Lily sat down on the end of a sofa in the common room. The others showed signs of wanting to wait with her, but James nudged them along to the boys' stairs.

Before he himself went up, however, he bent over and asked, "Do you want my cloak, to be safe?"

She shook her head. She would not go to Severus tonight wearing anything of James's.

Quickly, the common room emptied of all except Lily, Rose, and Mary. As they didn't move toward their own dorms, Lily said curtly, "Go to bed. You don't need to wait up for me."

Rose and Mary exchanged a glance as they stood, but both obeyed, leaving Lily gratefully alone.

In the beautiful silence, she leaned against the armrest of the couch and thought about anything except Severus. To begin, she thought about Hogwarts and how much she loved it, how it had become her home since she started school. Before, Anetka and Nicki's house had been her home, of course, but subtly that had changed. Hogwarts was the place she counted on returning to, and as she lost her home and James and David's became somewhere she could stay, the school became even more fixed as a place of comfort and somewhere she could feel safe with her sisters. And now she had to leave after this year. It was a sad prospect.

Her thoughts turned to what she would do after she graduated. As nice as Natalie was, she couldn't stay at the Potters forever. Slyly, her subconscious led her to consider any plans she had made previously. She had never any clear idea of what she wanted to do, only that she had a special knack for Charms. It was quite true that she and Severus had never laid out any serious plans; they only talked idly, almost in jest, of perhaps he finding a business in potions and she with him. Living together. Lily doubted the word "marriage" ever passed their lips the entire time they were together...

Coming back to herself, she looked at her watch and saw there were only ten minutes left until ten o'clock. Rising, she left the common room but took a different staircase than the one that led to the Great Hall and front doors. She met no one until, turning a corner, she encountered Peeves designing rude words on the ceiling out of wads of bubble gum. She stepped back warily as he whirled to face her. Peeves started to open his mouth to give what would undoubtedly be a gleeful call for Filch, but then stopped, an arrested expression on his face as he looked at her. He scowled suddenly, threw the rest of the wad of gum against the wall with enough force to make it stick, and zoomed off.

Lily blinked. She had never seen Peeves show deference to any student before. But now that she thought about it, he hadn't directly harassed her since - well, since that notable time in fourth year when he stuck carrots, dipped in glue, in her hair. But while he regularly went after the boys, he never threw so much as a quill at her, Rose, or Mary. Who would have thought Peeves could be courteous? Stifling a smile, Lily continued her way down.

It was when she leaped over two trick steps that she felt something hard bounce against her collarbone. She reached for it curiously, and with some shock felt the silver, heart-shaped necklace Severus had given her a year ago on their anniversary. She had grown so accustomed to wearing it she hadn't thought about it at all in the past few weeks. Her fingers closed around it, and her thumb ran over the inscription on the back. Lily didn't need to look at it to remember what was written there: _Long live us..._

She came back to herself sharply when she found herself standing before the side exit door. With a quick glance back, she opened it and walked down the stone steps, the cool night air enveloping her. She looked around as she walked across the grass and into the shrubbery. There was a gentle breeze blowing, with the sound of the lake lapping on the shore. Above, stars shone clearly in the cloudless sky.

Such a beautiful night.

"Lily."

The sound of his voice speaking her name had the same effect as though she had passed through a ghost, instantly vanishing all of her vague thoughts of the night and jerking her back to reality. Turning, she saw a figure shift in the shadows. As she moved to meet him, she saw he was sitting on a bench before a stone table, intended for homework in nice weather. She sat down opposite from him.

Severus reached across the table and took her hand. A simple, connecting, silent gesture. He sensed she had something to say and waited for her to say it.

But she said nothing for a long time, only held his hand, stroking the back of it with her thumb. Finally, with a slowness that told of great pain, she withdrew her hand.

"I'm in love with James." She looked directly across into his eyes. It was her punishment. "It only happened a few weeks ago. That's why I stopped coming over. I don't know why, I can't understand it myself. But" - her gaze had lowered for a minute, but now it met his eyes again - "I love you too much to lie to you. I wanted to. I wanted to just try to forget about it, and you and I could stay together and be happy. But you don't deserve that, for me to lie to you." Her eyes shone with tears, though none of them spilled over. "So I can't see you anymore." She wanted to say she was sorry, she hadn't wanted this to happen, and that she'd always love him, but her throat wouldn't let her form the words. She tried again, and managed, "I'm sorry."

There was nothing else she could say. It was a horrible feeling. She wanted to escape it and not face his reaction, so she got up and walked away blindly.

Lily only started to think again when she stopped before the slumbering Fat Lady. She stood for a moment, illogically hating everyone in Gryffindor Tower, then wheeled back around and walked away. She would not sleep there tonight.

Instead, she found the Room of Requirement, which the boys had introduced her to long ago. It gave her a very plain, small bedroom, and she laid on that bed, but could not sleep until she took a potion found on the bedside table.

But Severus did not move from where he sat by the stone table in the courtyard. He sat for hours, immobile, staring at the place where she had sat. Even when a light rain began to fall in the early hours of the morning, he did not stir. He sat alone. Alone in the world.

The next morning Lily woke up sharply, feeling nauseous. She walked quickly back to her dorm, feeling slightly guilty because Rose would have undoubtedly been waiting for her to come back, despite what Lily had said. But all the girls were still sleeping. Moving as quietly as possible, she opened her as yet unpacked trunk and searched for a hairbrush. As she pulled her thick hair back, she felt a tug of a few hairs at the nape of her neck. Reaching to pull them loose, her fingers encountered a chain in which the hairs had become tangled.

Her breath caught. Something inside dug a knife and twisted. Without looking down, she worked at the clasp with both hands until the necklace fell into her hand. It felt very heavy.

She didn't know what to do with it. No idea at all. She tried to consider different possibilities for a few minutes, until Rose's voice sounded behind her.

"Give it to me."

She had come up behind her silently in her nightgown, her pale red hair in long, messy braids. Wordlessly, Lily handed it to her. Rose sat next to her, holding the necklace enclosed between her hands.

"If you have anything else - letters, pictures -"

Lily nodded. There was a silence. She knew Rose wanted some word on what happened last night, but she was having difficulty finding what to say. Finally, she said briefly, "He didn't say anything."

Rose nodded. Lily picked up her brush again and attacked her hair again fiercely. Rose returned to her bed.

A steady throb developed at the back of Lily's head as she continued to change - especially as she rifled through her clothes. _Why is it,_ she thought fretfully, _that everything I own, Severus bought?_ How had he managed to replace all her possessions?

Alarms went off, and her other roommates began to stir.

"Good morning, Lily," said Chasity, sitting on her bed and using the same tone she had at the beginning of last year, after Lily and Rose had come back after their parents had died.

Lily eyed her suspiciously. Quite possibly, Rose had said something to her and Nicole last night. Well, she wasn't going to say anything about it. "Good morning, Chasity."

She and Rose left the dorm before Chasity and Nicole finished, meeting Mary in her dorm. Mary said nothing, but Lily saw her glance at her neck, then to Rose, and as they walked down the stairs Rose fell back slightly, where Lily was quite sure she whispered what Lily had said to Mary.

And it began all over again in the common room, where they met the boys. They treated her very carefully, but she felt the furtive glances, and didn't give them any more information than she had her roommates.

When the timetables circulated during breakfast, the first class she looked for was Advanced Potions – Wednesday, first class of the morning.

Thankfully, as classes began she had no time to dwell on last night, as all the rumors and warnings of last year proved true: Seventh year was completely different from all previous years, especially her classes. She only shared two with all of the boys and her sister, but in every one there was at least James and Sirius, except Advanced Potions, where Rose was. Advanced Transfiguration, which only held herself, James, and Sirius of the seven, was a good class for setting the standard for the year. Professor McGonagall had always been direct, but there was a new element that made Lily think even James and Sirius, Animagi as they were, would not be bored. She was teaching them the practicalities, basing everything on what they had already learned, treating them more like adults than she ever had before. This new attitude reappeared in all the teachers throughout the day, and Lily appreciated it. Perhaps this way, she might be ready for NEWTs.

During lunch, Rose disappeared, and came back only a few minutes before the next class.

"I went to see Professor Middleton," she said quietly to Lily as they walked to DADA.

"Why?" asked Lily, rather sharply.

Rose stopped and met her eyes coolly. "I told him you and Severus had reached a parting of ways, and it would make things much easier if you weren't paired together for any projects this year – not to mention that both of you would be able to focus better on the class individually.

Taken aback, Lily dropped her eyes to the floor. "Thanks."

"Well, what are sisters for?" said Rose dryly as they went on.

"What did he say?"

"Oh, you know how he is. He looked terribly disappointed, said it wouldn't be a problem. He looked like he wanted to ask me what happened."

Lily mused on this as she took her seat. It had actually been Middleton who had set them up in the first place, she remembered – he had put them together in the first class of their fifth year.... She was pulled sharply back as the teacher announced his intentions to coerce Dumbledore into letting him take his seventh year classes to an area in eastern Romania populated by vampires.

By dinner, Lily felt exhausted, though not too tired to miss the curious glances she was still getting from the boys around her. Abruptly, she cast aside her resolve not to say anything, and smiled cheerlessly around at the circle. "Yes, we did break up. Now you know, and can officially celebrate in your dorm tonight. Congratulations. It's what you wanted, right, for the past two years?"

"Lily," James began, his voice soft.

"Shut up," she said savagely, letting all her emotions into the words. James flinched. Lily glared back down at the table, willing it to spontaneously combust and kill not only her, but all of Gryffindor in the process. It didn't take her long to realize even thinking about eating anything else was enough to make her sick, so without further ado she stood up and walked away.

Lily's hatred of the boys lasted for weeks. It wasn't very hard, especially when she remembered how they had punished her directly after she had begun dating Severus, and Sirius's actions alone were enough to make her distribute her profound irritation among all the Marauders. Even Remus didn't attempt to talk to her.

So instead, Lily absorbed herself in her schoolwork, which wasn't very difficult either. What was more difficult to ignore was the terribly familiar headaches and nausea that began to return. She guessed it was because she was ignoring James, but did nothing to change the situation. Later, she would talk to him, when it didn't hurt so much to lie awake and alone at night, or when she broke the habit of absentmindedly reaching up to fidget with her necklace, and finding empty air. For now, she could live with having to stop reading occasionally because the words shifted and circled on the page. Besides, that's what potions were for.

And speaking of potions, the class was endurable. Wednesday morning Professor Middleton had dutifully not paired her with Severus, and she found no reason to look anywhere besides the blackboard, the textbook, and the potion. She also took her time packing up, so when she left, Severus was long gone from the dungeon.

But the morning of September 19th, she refused to get out of bed.

"Lily, get up, you're Head Girl, you have to –"

"No. Not today." Only the top of her head was visible. Rose fought the urge to pull her hair.

"This is ridiculous. You have to go to your classes."

Nicole was looking on with some interest. "Anything I can do?"

"Yes." Rose glared down at the bed, and resorted to greater measures. "Go get Mary, please."

Cackling, Nicole left. In preparation for this next siege, Lily tightened the bedcovers around her.

"Your classes, Lily!"

"I can make up one day."

Mary entered, looking bemused with half of her hair braided. "Nicole said she wouldn't get up?"

"Yes," Rose affirmed, looking down at the cocooned form.

Mary crossed the room to stand beside Rose, frowning. "Why?"

"It's –"Rose sighed. "It's their anniversary."

At this, Lily sat up suddenly, flinging the blanket down. _"I have Potions today!"_

"Good," said Mary ruthlessly. "Excellent closure. Don't miss the opportunity."

Lily stared at her, shocked.

Mary walked to her wardrobe and tossed a pair of robes onto the bed. "Get dressed and stop looking so abused. I'll meet you in the Great Hall for breakfast." With that, she left the dorm.

Lily did meet her downstairs ten minutes later, only sulking moderately. Rose kept an eye out for her – but Severus never appeared. Nor did he even appear in the dungeons for class – Lily even dared to look up and around after Professor Middleton, calling the role, reached, "Mr. Snape" and there was no response. She heard two Slytherins behind her talking softly.

"No, Snape never got out of bed."

"It's not like he overslept –"

"Yeah, I know, he doesn't even sleep at all – just sits and stares at the wall all night. Creeps me out."

During lunch Lily left for the bathroom, but after finishing she dawdled, reluctant to go back to the Great Hall. She didn't feel much like eating anymore – her appetite had been irregular recently. So she sat on the marble counter of the sink, not thinking about anything in particular.

It started as a niggling suspicion, passing itself off as her imagination, then growing into certainty. Lily was just able to leap off the counter and make it to the toilet in time.

When she was finished, she leaned weakly against the stall. _Where did that come from?_ she wondered. _What did I eat?_

Predictably, Rose noticed almost as soon as she saw Lily again, before Advanced Charms. "Why didn't – are you all right? You're pale. Are you sick?"

It was never any use lying to Rose. "Yes, I was sick for a moment in the bathroom. I'm fine now."

"Are you sure? You ought to go to Madam Pomfrey, just to make sure. You haven't been eating well lately either –"

"I'm _fine_, Rose. I'm not as stupid as I was when I was fourteen." It came out harsher than she had intended, but that had struck the very foundation of memories she was trying to avoid at the time.

"All right," said Rose simply.

But Lily wasn't fine. The next morning, during class, she had another sudden attack of nausea, and it took all of her will to push it back down. And the next night, after she got back from Astrology.

And again the next night she woke up, barely conscious enough to stagger into the bathroom. As she vomited, a cool hand was placed on her forehead, another gently pulling back her hair.

When it was over, Rose silently handed her a wet cloth, followed by a glass of water. Lily accepted them without a word, without even looking up at her as Rose knelt quietly, patiently, in front of her. But Lily was finally facing something – an idea that before, she had refused to consider even before it was really clear. It was impossible, ridiculous, lunacy. _Impossible_, her mind always came back to. _Impossible._

_So it's impossible. Prove it. You know the test. Prove it so you'll stop worrying about it._

She looked up at last to Rose, who met her eyes steadily. She hesitated – she knew it was silly _(it's impossible, after all)_ – but said it anyway. "Could – could you go get Mary? There's something I need to do. In the common room."

A strange expression flitted across Rose's face that Lily didn't quite catch, but she nodded and got to her feet, then helping Lily up.

Moving quietly as to not wake her other roommates, Lily collected a book, her smaller cauldron, and her wide set of ingredients. She crept down the stairs, meeting her sisters at a table. Mary looked very groggy.

"Is this to get me back for making you get up that morning, Lily?"

"No. There's just something I need to make. It shouldn't take very long." She propped open the book against a stack on the table so the page was only visible to her, and started the preliminary steps. Mary closed her eyes and let her chin fall to her chest.

It was a speedy potion, having recently been redesigned for more accurate results. Her hands worked almost automatically, though she had never made it before. She had an odd sense that they were working separately from her. She tried to keep her eyes down, but there came a lull in which she couldn't stand it anymore, and looked up.

Rose, unlike Mary, who was apparently asleep again, was sitting very straight, visibly tense, her eyes fixed on Lily. She was very white, though her eyes were blazing, and seemed darker than usual. There was a warning, almost threatening, in her expression. _Don't you dare_, the message was. _Don't you dare._

Lily looked away to do the final steps. Extinguishing the fire, pouring a sample, performing a cooling charm. But she stopped with the glass in her hands, staring down at the white mixture. It was the hardest thing, taking the most self-will, she had ever done in her life.

But she did. She raised the glass so quickly the edge hit her teeth, but she drained all of it. Instead of swallowing, she swished the warm liquid in her mouth for the required five to twenty seconds, then spat it all back into the cauldron.

The results came almost instantaneously. The white turned a uniform pale purple.

Transfixed, Lily stared into the cauldron at the still, unmistakable color. A wild urge rose in her, to scream, throw something, lose control like she had never done before – and some restraint that had always previously stopped her, gave in. Lily raised her hand high, and brought it down against the side of the cauldron. It flew off the table and onto the floor, the terrible purple staining the rug.

Mary jumped to her feet with a startled curse. And Rose began to cry.

Lily looked down at her hand. Already the palm was turning white, beginning to blister. It would hurt terribly. She hoped the pain would kick in soon.

Mary was looking from her to Rose, who was the only one still sitting. Lily made no move to speak, or do anything at all except stare at her hand, waiting. Rose cried in a quiet way to herself, tears sliding down her face unchecked as she looked into space. Mary was breathing hard now, all but backing away. For the first time, the sisters were completely cut off from each other.

Several times, Mary tried to speak, but stopped short. Finally, she cried in a cracking voice so unlike her own, "I thought you took the potion!"

Lily didn't look up from her hand, though she no longer saw it. She felt the pain now, searing, beautifully unbearable. "We did," she whispered. "We did."

**Author notes: **Not even two months!!! I am so good! I deserve an award. Like a trip to Britain. But I'll take reviews.

Also, considering the latest twist...well, trust your author. She does know what she's doing. Exactly what she's doing.


	22. Part Two of Book Eight

_**Part Two**_

No one spoke again for several moments. Mary slowly sat back down. At last, moving mechanically, Lily went to pick up the cauldron and fumbled to bring out her wand to perform a vanishing spell on the stains on the rug.

"What are you going to do?" It was Mary who asked.

Lily stopped where she was kneeling on the rug. That was completely unnecessary. There was no need to think about that right now. A part of her dimly recognized she was in shock. But she couldn't. What could she do? She – was carrying – Severus's baby. The words made no sense. She had broken up with Severus. For James. She felt dizzy now. James...the boys, all of them, Remus – Severus. The entire school. She couldn't face them. Very suddenly, she was quite certain.

"I can't," she mumbled aloud.

"Can't what?" Mary's voice had a definite edge to it. Lily looked up at her.

"I can't face them," she said clearly. "Any of them. I – I have to leave."

For the first time, Rose looked up to what was going on. "Leave?"

"Leave. Hogwarts."

Rose looked stunned. "You can't."

Lily looked back, just as blankly. "I don't have a choice. What would you have me do? Stay here and –"Her lips wouldn't form the words: _have the baby in the hospital wing. _

"No." Rose got up, brushing the tears and a few stray hairs off her face. "You have to go talk to Dumbledore."

Lily stared as though she had suggested drowning herself in the lake that very night. "Rose," she said, her voice starting to tremble, _"he made me Head Girl!_"

"So? You have to, you can't just drop out –"

"Why not? I'm of age – this is only my last year. I've been top of my year for most of my years, I wouldn't have much trouble getting a job –"

"You can't be serious!" cried Rose, her voice hysterical.

Mary interrupted them here, leaning back in her seat and staring at the ceiling, by laughing quietly. "My God," she whispered. "What would Anetka and Nicki say..."

Lily flinched as though she had slapped her. But after a moment, she repeated determinedly, "I'm not facing them. Not the boys."

Rose sucked in her breath. "James –"

"James," Lily said, and got to her feet, so she could look straight in her eyes. "James had a hard enough time accepting the fact I had slept with Severus. I was there, I saw his face when I told him. He could barely handle that. Do you really think he's going to still want me when he finds out I'm carrying Severus's child?"

Rose hesitated, and that cost her.

"I'm leaving," said Lily again. "At the end of this month." She held out an arm: her books, ingredients, and cauldron flew to her, and she calmly walked back up the stairs.

The next morning Lily got up very early and went directly to the kitchens for breakfast, then to the library until her first class. This way, she didn't see Rose until halfway to her second hour class.

"Where were you?" Rose demanded as she caught up with her.

"Transfiguration." It had been surprisingly simple, with everyone so occupied that she never made so much as eye contact with James or Sirius.

"You know what – why are you trying to avoid me?"

"It's not just you."

"Well, you can't, not any of us," said Rose angrily. "You think the boys are going to let you disappear? They're the _Marauders_, you know that map they made – they'll find you, if not before the year's over then after. And Natalie will track you down too, she'll be worried once James and David owl her that you've left school –"

Lily couldn't help it; she flinched.

"You might as well stay here."

Her final answer to all of it was to open her Ancient Runes textbook. "Class is starting, Rose."

But Rose did not give up. Every free, semi-alone moment she repeated her arguments, always returning to the plea, "go see Dumbledore, just talk to him." Lily resolutely ignored her, except to snarl out the number of days until she was leaving. Mary looked on with a kind of miserable silence.

The third night after Lily's discovery, David watched Rose watch Lily, the last of whom was sitting apart from the usual group, watching the fire and looking rather depressed. But David's focus remained Rose, whom he had noticed had been watching her sister for the last few minutes. She had a sharp and almost desperate look in her face. He mused on how long she had had those hollows under her eyes.

Suddenly, Lily got up and quickly left up the girls' staircase. Rose immediately stood to follow her, but David called to her. Visibly reluctant, she came over and he pulled her into his lap, so he could raise his head and whisper directly in her ear.

"What?"

"I just wanted to talk. Haven't seemed to be able to do that much lately."

"We talk."

"Well, how are you? Are you all right, really?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you and Lily and Mary look distracted. Is everything all right?"

"Lily broke up with Severus, in case you haven't noticed."

"Besides that..."

"Isn't it enough?" Her voice had an edge to it. David knew how to deal with that. He wrapped his arms more tightly around her and turned his head sideways, leaning it against her shoulder. After a few moments, she relaxed.

"I love you."

"I, you," she murmured back softly.

He raised his head, propping his chin on her shoulder so he could look in her face. "I'm here, you know. If anything happens. I'll always be."

She leaned her cheek against the top of his head, and her voice wavered slightly. "Thank you."

Two days later, it was a Saturday, and as she had done every day, Lily got up early, went to the kitchens for a small breakfast, but this time took to a small, private study room designed for only the Head Boy or Girl.

Rose came in barely an hour later.

"Still planning to leave Monday?"

Lily didn't look up from the newspaper lying flat on a table. "Late Sunday night, actually."

Rose walked closer. "What are you looking at, the want ads?"

Abruptly, she closed the newspaper and leaned back in her chair, looking up at her expressionlessly. "I'll miss you and Mary."

Rose's cold look faded. "Lily. Please don't do this."

She said nothing.

"Don't throw away your life like that. Go see Dumbledore, that's all I'm asking. He'll find you anyway, you're Head Girl, he practically has a responsibility to. So just tell him now, while there's still a chance to do something about it."

Lily's gaze had fallen to some point in the distance, behind her. Taking this as a sign, Rose stepped forward again and took her hand that was on the table, gripping it tightly.

"If you don't, you'll always wonder if there was something you could have done. Just talk to him. If he doesn't have a better alternative, I swear I won't try to stop you from leaving.

"You don't have anything to lose."

Lily stared down for a whole minute. Then, at long last, she nodded.

Rose let out the breath she hadn't known she was holding in a great sigh. "Thank you." She raised her hand and pressed it to her lips. "Come on, let's go now."

Lily nodded again and stood up. "Mary –"

"We'll get her."

She was found in her dorm, on her bed, with the large, ancient Practical Magic book open before her. She was kneeling on her heels, with the tops of her feet overlapping and her back straight. Her eyes were closed, lips slightly parted, and the first two fingers of each hand were pressed to two symbols on opposite pages of the book.

Rose hesitated, then went forward and carefully placed her first two fingers on the symbols by Mary's. Surprised, Mary opened her eyes.

"Sorry to interrupt you," said Rose quietly. "Lily's...we're going to see Dumbledore. Would – do you want to come with us?"

Mary looked from her to Lily rather blankly, then shrugged and closed the book, swinging her legs around and stretching them. "All right."

Five minutes later, they were getting alarmingly close to Dumbledore's office.

"You can do the talking," Lily said suddenly to Rose.

"All right."

They paused before the stone gargoyle, waiting for the area to clear, then Lily said, "Wronski Feint." The gargoyle stepped aside, and they moved onto the spiraling staircase. No one said anything until they got to the top and Lily knocked on the door, then stepped back so Rose was foremost.

"Yes?"

Rose glanced back at Lily, then opened the door.

Dumbledore was standing over his desk, rolling up several newspapers that had been spread out. He looked up as they crossed the threshold, but hesitated at the doorway. There was a pause, and he gestured toward the two chairs facing the desk – a third dropped suddenly into place beside them. "Please sit down. In a moment, you will have my full attention."

They sat down; Rose in the middle, Lily staring down at the floor, already regretting her decision as Dumbledore carefully packed away the papers and sat behind his desk. She could feel his expectant gaze resting on them, though she didn't look up, and had an idea she never would.

She heard Rose inhale deeply next to her. "Professor – Lily's pregnant."

For the first time in her life, Lily hated her sister.

"It happened over the summer, and she only found out a few days ago. She wanted to just leave right away, but I asked her to come here and tell you, just – in case," Rose finished, and there was silence.

Lily kept her head down, her right hand cupping her forehead, very still. Then she heard Dumbledore shift in his chair.

"Lily. Please look up at me."

Her hand tightened around her forehead, and she didn't, for several seconds. But finally she dropped her hand and raised her head, meeting Dumbledore's eyes, which were looking at her very seriously.

"You are not," he said quietly, "the first student, nor are you the first Head Girl caught in this predicament."

Some of the sick pressure on her chest and in her stomach lessened. Even though Dumbledore hadn't said a word about what would be done with her, she was encouraged that the first words out of his mouth weren't the time she should expect to meet the train.

Dumbledore stood from his chair – a muscle in her leg twitched involuntarily – and walked around to the front of the desk, leaning back against the front of it and steepling his fingers where they hung down before his robes. Lily chanced a glance sideways, and saw Rose sitting upright and stiff, her hands folded tightly. Mary was leaning back, one hand fiddling with an earring – a sign her sisters would recognize as nervousness – and her eyes slitted as she watched what was going on. "However –"Lily's attention snapped back to the headmaster.

"I cannot allow you to complete the term of your pregnancy here in Hogwarts."

A stone dropped through her gut. She was expelled. Even if Dumbledore had an alternative, she would still have been expelled if he didn't. _Expelled_. The word rang through her head. She, Lily Marie Evans – all the years of having either top or second-to-top grades, being prefect twice and Head Girl, came to nothing. And being friends with the boys, watching as they skated back and forth across the line, became _Animagi_ – in the end, she was the one expelled.

_What would Anetka and Nicki say._

With a great effort, Lily brought herself back to what Dumbledore was saying.

"– but you do have several options that would allow you to at least finish your year and graduate. The simplest and quickest is drinking an Aboriri Potion. Would you consider it?"

Lily considered. It was definitely the easiest choice – she could stay in school, and no one, not even the Marauders, not even James, would ever know.

But – this was also Severus's baby. Could she kill his baby, without him even knowing she had it? Oh, she still loved him – and now, there was more. And even besides that...after everything they had had – no, she couldn't. She simply wouldn't be able to live with herself. Looking back up at Dumbledore, she shook her head quickly.

He had been watching her closely, and now let a moment pass, then continued, "Well, if you are set against that method – there is another way, so you know, an early adoption by another woman. A complicated charm that transfers the fetus to a recipient – but she must share many of the same physical characteristics, such as blood type, weight, and so on."

Lily smiled bitterly, and made a slight motion with her hand. "I don't know anyone who could do that."

Dumbledore gave a short nod. "There is a third alternative that you should be aware of, at the least. A potion was recently developed that will slow the growth of an early fetus to a stop for up to five years, with no damage to it or the mother." He paused. "At your stage, this is available to you, and with it you would be able to finish your studies without interruption."

It took her less than a second to decide. "I'll do that." She would graduate, then figure out the next step. As Rose had said, the biggest point was to not drop out.

Dumbledore looked at her steadily. "If that is your choice." Lily nodded again. "Very well. If you will allow me to brew the potion, for surety's sake –"

"No," said Rose. Everyone stared at her. She had her fingers pressed to her forehead, slowly rubbing them up and down, her eyes closed. "No," she repeated. "Lily. You can't do that."

Mary spoke for Lily, her voice incredulous. "Why not?"

Rose didn't look up or move her hands. "Because. She did it for James. And she can't pretend to him and everyone it's his baby."

Lily looked at her in disbelief, feeling several emotions at once: anger toward Rose for finding fault in the best idea, numbness which changed to disbelief. "_How can you say_-"

"Who else? You did it for him. You didn't give up all of that for a fling." Her hands became still over her face. "You're going to marry him. I know it, and more importantly, Mary's seen it."

Lily immediately looked up to Mary, who seemed both shocked and embarrassed. "Hints," she muttered, ducking her head. "Little things, here and there."

Rose breathed out audibly. "James hates him, Lily. You can't pretend it's his baby. You'd die of guilt."

Lily still hadn't quite absorbed it was certain she was to marry James – but she couldn't help but realize what Rose said was true. It would kill her to deceive James into thinking it was his child, and watch him love it and claim traits every day, knowing all along that it was really his worst enemy's...

Knowing this, however, did not make her happier. "Well, do you have an alternative, then?"

Rose said nothing. Lily glanced to Mary again, who looked as bewildered as Lily felt. But just as Lily was about to speak again, Rose raised her head, looking to Dumbledore, who had been standing quietly as they talked. Lily received another surprise as she saw Rose was clearly holding back tears.

"That other spell – the one to switch the baby to another girl – could – would it work for me?"

Mary suddenly moved to the edge of her chair, leaning toward her and hissing. _"No."_

Lily felt stupefied, unable to follow what was going on. Rose couldn't do it. She was with David.

Dumbledore looked very sad as he replied directly. "You, as a sister, would be an ideal match for the spell."

Rose swallowed. Mary looked furious and helpless. Lily still felt like she was missing something.

"But David–"

Rose stood up, as though she couldn't sit still any longer, and walked to the window where no one could see her face. When she spoke, it was in a flat, utterly detached voice. "David won't be able to tell. He won't know."

Lily found her voice at last. "What about what you just told me? David hates Severus too, just as much, how are you going to live with that?"

"Because it is different." Rose spoke to the window, her arms crossed. "Because I'm doing it for you. And I'll remember that – every day." Her voice dropped.

The magnitude of the sacrifice Rose was offering reeled Lily's mind. It wasn't right – it was beyond everything – "Rose, I'm not asking you to do this," she blurted out.

With her back to them, Rose gave a funny shrug. "Blood's thicker –"

"Don't say it," snarled Mary, who looked like she would have to kill something if Rose finished the expression. "This is ridiculous." She seemed infuriated at the arrangement, all the more by her own lack of power to fight it.

"Rose – "Lily wanted to get up and go to her, look her in the eye, but something restrained her. "Are you sure? This isn't some –"

"_I know what this is."_ Her voice was a furious hiss. Her hands, visible by her sides, had clenched into fists. Lily fell silent. Rose whirled around, her over-bright eyes never glancing at Lily or Mary, but looking straight at Dumbledore. "When can we do this?" she demanded. "How soon?"

Dumbledore did not answer right away. He looked into Rose's face, so determined, and held her gaze. He still seemed sad, but resigned to their choice. "I could perform the spell now, if you are certain this is what you want."

"It is," Rose said, almost cutting him off.

Dumbledore looked at Lily, who felt caught. It was so wrong – but was there anything better? "I – I don't see any other way."

He looked again from one to the other. "You are both of age and within your rights to do this without notifying anyone. As headmaster, I will assist you so you may finish your schooling." Dumbledore straightened and drew his wand. "You must stand very close, chest and stomach touching."

Lily stood, almost stumbling as she moved forward. Rose, on the other hand, walked quickly to her, though not meeting her eyes. She wrapped her arms around Lily's back, tightening the room between them. It was the first time a hug between them felt awkward. Tentatively, Lily rested her hands on Rose's shoulder blades and turned her head away, where she could see Mary. She caught her eye briefly, but Mary immediately looked away.

Dumbledore began the spell, a steady murmur of words Lily heard only as a buzz. She was aware of Rose's heart beating, only slightly faster than normal. The incantation went on; she began to feel dizzy. Her spine tingled; goose bumps ran down her arms and legs. A hot flash, then cold – and suddenly she felt like someone had punched her in the stomach, knocking the breath out of her. If Rose hadn't been in front of her, she would have doubled over. Rose must have felt her shudder, for her hands tightened on her back. Or was that Rose shaking too –

Then it ceased, leaving Lily standing, wondering if it worked. Almost self-consciously they parted and looked to Dumbledore, who lowered his wand.

"It is complete."

Rose touched her stomach gingerly; almost involuntarily, Lily's hands went to her own. Nothing felt different, and nothing looked different with Rose.

"The dormancy potion will take a few days to make. Do you still wish to leave it to me?"

It was a moment before Rose seemed to realize he was talking to her and looked up. "Yes."

"I'll also give you the draught to reverse its affects. That may take a week longer; I do not know for certain."

She gave a short nod. "Thank you." Before anything else could be said, she turned and walked to the door. Caught by surprise, Lily followed her out. Mary stood, let them pass, and closed the door behind her.

Rose's expression was entirely closed as they rode down the staircase and reached the corridor. Then, walking very quickly, she left in the direction leading away from Gryffindor tower.

"Let her go, Lily," said Mary sharply.

"I wasn't going –"Lily began, then stopped as she looked at her. Mary looked distracted and still angry over the arrangement, though none of it seemed directed at Lily. She met her eye.

"This is going to give us all gray hairs before it's over," she said, with an ironic smile. Lily tried to smile back. "Don't worry about it so much," Mary continued, somewhat quieter. "It really is the best way. It's practical. If anything, Rose will hate herself. Never you. She isn't capable of it." She finished with another bitter smile.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

Mary raised her eyebrows. "Yes. Look, this is more fair than you think. We're all paying a price."

Lily shook her head, not to disagree, but to say she couldn't grasp it and didn't want to think about it anymore. "Am I really going to marry James?" she demanded as they began walking.

"Oh yes."

"And Rose, David?"

Mary only looked at her as though Lily was doubting if magic was real.

"What about you?"

She laughed. "How would I know?"

"How _do_ you know?" Lily asked seriously.

Mary waved a hand airily. "Things flow in currents. If you can see them."

"And you can. So you can't see something for yourself?"

Mary shrugged. "Probably not. Haven't tried."

"Why not?"

"Not interested."

Lily regarded her. "Are Rose and David going to be all right?"

"Merlin, how would I know? I'm not a seer. I didn't see this coming."

"Did you know – Severus and I would break up?"

Mary was silent, brow furrowed. "I don't know. I knew you were in love." She looked up at Lily. "And I could see the currents between you and James were still there. But I don't know. I hoped you wouldn't."

They lapsed into silence.

That night, Rose lay awake, staring at her ceiling and wondering if there was a line, a limit to how much she should give up for Lily, and if there was, if she had crossed it.

Whenever Lily looked back at those weeks, she always found it difficult to believe how quickly everything settled back to normal. Rose, as far as Lily saw, never gave a sign of discomfort around David, though Lily could never quite meet her eye while Rose was with him.

Mary threw herself into her life again – school, Quidditch, and talking with the boys. By all appearances, she had entirely forgotten about the events of the end of September. And so, bemused, Lily picked up life again as Head Girl and the Marauders' friend. Her animosity towards them had quietly died, leaving little chance of a resurrection. The boys were clearly relieved, though they never spoke about it, and resumed including her.

With this, Lily was once again facing the issue of herself and James. It was clear that he assumed, like the others, she had recovered at last from her breakup. He began, cautiously, approaching her to talk, and was obviously encouraged that she didn't brush him off. Lily was resigned to find she was still quite attracted to him, though now that she wasn't fighting it was less painful. But she was not inclined to throw herself into a relationship.

Sirius, unsurprisingly, remained the one she was most distant with, though they were civil, even courteous on occasion. But they did not seek each other out, and no one, especially James, attempted to talk to her about him. So Lily was fairly surprised when she heard her roommate talking about him one night in October.

She was kneeling by her bedside table, the drawers of which were magically expanded to hold rows of books, searching for a particular one so she could disprove James on a question for an Arithmancy essay when she heard Nicole's voice, first vaguely, then coming to a complete stop in her search to pay attention.

"...it was exactly what I thought it would be like, exactly what anyone would think it would be like. No, no disappoints." Nicole laughed quietly. "He's Sirius Black. You get what you see."

Abandoning eavesdropping, Lily rolled back from where she had been squatting, and looked around the end of a bed to where Nicole and Chasity were standing close together.

"Hi."

"Oh, hi Lily."

"Yeah – right, I really wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but I heard you talking, Nicole – something about you and Sirius –"

Chasity and Nicole smiled at each other, and Alice said, "Didn't he say anything to you?"

Lily shook her head, suddenly feeling annoyed at Sirius for the first time that he didn't confide in her more.

"Well –"Chasity cleared her throat, glancing at Nicole and still grinning. "The other day, Sirius and Nicole – in the Quidditch locker –"Chasity broke into laughter.

"That's enough, she gets the idea," snapped Nicole, crossing to the wardrobe to rifle through it for her robe.

Lily felt stuck for a moment, unable to say anything as Chasity laughed and Nicole moved about the room, though unable to stop smiling herself. "Wow," she said finally, pushing her hand through the top of her hair.

"Why do you look so surprised?" demanded Nicole.

Lily shook her head, then said, "I never thought of him like that before."

Nicole looked at her in a mixture of exasperation and amazement. "Honestly, Lily..."

Lily shrugged. "Congratulations, though."

Nicole laughed, shook her head and left for the bathroom, Chasity soon following.

Lily continued to sit, lost in thought, for several minutes until Rose entered.

"Rose – did you know that Sirius and Nicole had sex in the Quidditch lockers?"

To Lily's surprise, Rose nodded, sitting down across from her on a bed. "David told me this morning."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to."

Lily paused, then asked in a low voice – "Does Mary know?"

Rose sighed, examining her fingertips. "Yes. David also said Remus was going to carefully let her know."

"Oh, Merlin."

A rueful smile appeared on Rose's lips, though she still did not look up from her hands. "Yes, that was my thought." There was another pause and she continued, "But really, we shouldn't be surprised. Sirius isn't the kind of man who lingers around, waiting forever."

"No," Lily agreed pensively, "he isn't."

Both sat quietly for several moments, each in her own thoughts. Rose broke the silence by whispering, more to herself than anyone, "Sad how life can never be perfect romantically...never works out the way it should."

Lily stared up at her, rather afraid to answer. She and Rose had never spoken on the arrangement they had made, never once alluded to it. But Rose stood up suddenly and held out her hands to help Lily up. "I'm going to bed for the night. Tell the others goodnight for me if you go back downstairs." She kissed Lily quickly on the forehead.

Lily never saw any visible reaction on Mary's part to what Sirius did, but after that day, she joined Lily in evading him. By all appearances, Sirius didn't notice.

Very, very slowly, Lily began to allow herself to get closer to James. She sat nearer to him in the common room and let him rest his hand on her shoulder. When they visited Hogsmeade one chilly day, she accepted his cloak. And finally, one night when all eight were sitting in a private Head Boy study room, she laid her hand on top of his. James stopped talking mid-sentence, and couldn't seem to find his place again. Fortunately, David picked up what James had been saving, smoothly covering the lapse. No one said a word about it, though Lily observed with amusement that everyone was grinning widely for the rest of the night.

They held hands often after that, though she refrained in places more public than the Gryffindor common room. It was amazing how Severus kept himself almost completely out of sight – she had caught a glimpse of him perhaps twice in the corridors. But it always came down to how there was nothing, nothing she could do for him except stay away as well, and keep from touching James too much when there was a chance he might see.

**Author notes:** Eh, not quite three months. Sorry. And I wanted to just post _something_, so I also sort of stopped short, before an important scene.


	23. Part Three of Book Eight

_**Part Three**_

December caught Lily by surprise. Time was moving very quickly that year. Sirius had celebrated his eighteenth birthday. The weather had turned windy and cold, though not cold enough to snow, making it the strangest winter Lily had ever experienced at Hogwarts.

Quidditch, of course, stopped for no weather, no matter how unusual. James was as obsessed with the game as ever, David only slightly less so. Sirius, as his typical self, didn't brood over not being able to play, and only once threw a small fit when Gryffindor lost to Ravenclaw. He attended every practice, either flying with the others to help or pacing the stands. As the weather got colder, Lily would wait for them to finish in the common room with Remus and Peter, but after the night when she held James's hand, she began going down early, a few minutes before they finished, to wait for James while he changed and then walk with him back up to the school.

So late one December afternoon Lily stepped outside to walk leisurely down to the pitch. The air was quite cold, but she was comfortable in a new cloak and dark red scarf. She looked up at the sky as she walked – the clouds were heavy, but so glaring white it hurt her eyes to stare for long.

When she entered the pitch, she saw the team standing together on the ground, James apparently lecturing. She moved to stand against the locker rooms, observing what was happening. Yes, James was definitely upset, waving his arms and broom. It seemed to be directed mostly at the new Beater. David was holding Rose in front of him, his own cloak wrapped around her as well. Mary looked tired and bored.

Finally James seemed to release them, and they trailed into the locker rooms. James was last, and he stalked up first to Lily, looking aggrieved.

"Hard practice?" she asked.

He made a futile motion. "Indescribable. I'm going to take a shower, maybe Colin will have improved after I do. Go on up to the castle if you want."

"I'll wait."

The sky grew darker, the glare fading so it was easier to look at directly. Lily was so preoccupied watching it she almost didn't notice when James came back out, his hair wet so it actually was lying down flat. Lily found she didn't like it.

"James, it's too cold for your hair to be wet." She pulled out her wand and waved it over her other hand, spreading an invisible, warm, airy substance that tingled. Dropping her wand back in her pocket, she clapped her hands together, then pushed them through James's hair. The magic sucked every drop of moisture out, and left his hair standing up more wildly than it ever did naturally. Lily grinned.

"I know what that spell does," he said matter-of-factly. "Now, what would be interesting is if I use it on _you_."

She laughed, pulling her hair back more securely. And looking at James standing there, hands shoved in his cloak, hair wild, smiling placidly, she realized she wanted to kiss him. So she did.

It was a quick, sudden lean forward, probably taking him completely by surprise. The burst of confidence she had had in taking the initiative promptly disappeared, because this was utterly beyond her experience. In kissing Severus, it had always been about the emotions behind the kiss, the pressure. It was never about the actual feel of the kiss, just as looks hadn't been a factor on her part of the relationship.

This, however, was completely different. She _felt_ everything: how very soft his lips were, his warm breaths on her cheek, the gentle, almost hesitant touch on his shoulders – she pressed in deeper, leaning in – she felt like she was searching for something, something more familiar, something she knew –

James made a noise. Startled, Lily pulled back. James was looking at her with wide eyes. He touched his lip, and Lily was surprised to see it was bleeding.

"Oh – I'm sorry –" As an apology, she kissed him again lightly. "That, erm, doesn't usually happen."

He touched his lips again. "I'll take your word for it."

She smiled, then blinked as she felt something cold touch her eye. She looked up, blinked again, and it took her a minute to real that that wasn't rain.

"Snow.

And it kept snowing, as though to apologize for the earlier, disappointing weather. Lily found it extraordinarily beautiful.

By unanimous agreement, the eight friends decided to spend their last Christmas at Hogwarts. The holidays went by quietly, and with James and Lily's status it was not difficult in getting permission for themselves and the other students that had stayed behind to take an extra trip to Hogsmeade.

The sixth of January, the day after Mary's seventeenth birthday, a nondescript owl fluttered down besides Mary's cereal bowl. She opened and spent the next few minutes frowning, in more puzzlement than disgust, over its contents, until Lily finally had to ask,

"What is it, Mary?"

Mary shook her head slightly and picked up the top paper she was looking at to glance at the one beneath it again. "It's…well, see for yourself." She handed them over to Lily, who immediately began to spend the same amount of time Mary had studying the papers. Rose looked over her shoulder.

At last even the boys' attention was caught. "Well?" demanded David, leaning over. "What is that?"

Lily looked up. "This…you see, when we were little, we had a bigger, older house that came from Anetka's family. But we moved into the suburbs about a year before I started Hogwarts, and…I suppose I just assumed they had sold the other house, but – apparently not. And now that Mary's seventeen, she, erm – inherited it." Lily looked back to the papers.

Mary frowned again. "I thought that was what it was saying, but – why's it in my name?"

"I don't know. It's odd, everything else is split evenly between the four of us." Lily mused, then tried to smile brightly at Mary. "Well, congratulations, you have a house."

Mary scowled. "Good," she shot back, "you two can move in there after you finish Hogwarts."

Lily shrugged and returned to the last page of the letter.

"Actually," Rose said suddenly, "I think that would be a good idea. I mean" – she hesitated, and looked at the twins – "we could move out of your house sooner, and I think it would be easier to live in that house than in the one we have now. Or did have. Um."

"Well, this last page is a letter of advice," Lily said. "Right. I'm going to owl it all to Natalie and see what she says – is that all right, Mary?"

"Of course." Mary looked slightly annoyed that she had been asked.

Natalie's response came promptly, and among some explanations and details was a suggestion to sell the smaller house in the suburbs and keep the older one, or whichever way they preferred. Lily, Rose, and Mary agreed they wanted to keep the house that had really been in Anetka's family for generations, but they owled Petunia first. Petunia expressed little interest in houses, apparently feeling quite secure with Vernon. So they owled Natalie again, telling her to go ahead in making arrangements for the suburban house to be sold.

Spring began to steal in, and as it did Lily discovered, along with every other seventh year, that her entire life, up until this very moment, had been in preparation for the NEWTs. Everything was coming to a head for these exams.

Meditation and relaxing potions and charms were used to a nearly addictive degree. The teachers, for the first time, began giving advice on study methods, making clear how important it was to take breaks to think about nothing related to testing.

"As for myself," Professor McGonagall shared, "I would sit by a window, with my back to the hall, and listen very closely to everyone passing behind me, and attempt to discern whether it was a student, teacher, or ghost, what year they were in, and whether I knew the person or not. Of course," she added thoughtfully. "I would often be distracted by the clouds transfiguring themselves into different things."

And so it was that, as Sirius declared, the Seventh Year Dance had only been invented as a method of keeping the seventh years from descending into a level of absolute, gibbering madness.

It certainly wasn't as big a deal as it had been last year – they looked forward to it as a night to let off some steam. Dates were only a matter of secondary interest, and in most cases girls were simply testing their skills by transfiguring and charming school robes into something dressier.

Therefore Lily was taken off guard when James asked her during one of their Off Hours – as they all referred to their non-study hours – if she would like to go to the dance with him.

She stared at him in surprise, then laughed. Severus had never asked her last year, and she hadn't expected him to – she had almost forgotten that boyfriends were technically supposed to ask their girlfriends to dances.

"What?" he asked as she laughed.

"Oh – nothing. It's just that – no, nothing." She shook her head.

"Do you not want to go to the dance?"

"Oh, of course I do – and yes, with you. I just thought of something else for a moment, that's all."

"All right." He leaned back against her.

But the scene in the common room a couple of nights later was not as peaceful.

All eight were in their usual circle, working rather vaguely. Peter looked up at the one point and asked, "So how are we going to the dance this year?"

Remus snorted. "I'm not going at all. I'm going to my bed, lock the curtains, and _drug _myself until morning." He had been having an especially hard time with the full moons sapping his energy.

Lily tilted her head. "Oh, but you ought to go, Remus – I'll miss you."

Remus reached over and patted her on the head. "James will do his best to comfort you, I'm sure."

"Though it will never work," James added, looking despondent. "All night, she will be yearning after Moony –"

"Hush."

"And I'm going with Lisa Sinclair," Sirius said carelessly, turning another page of his Herbology text and marking something.

The entire group stopped moving to stare at either him or Mary – the latter of whom had become perfectly still, her head barely raised enough so she could see Sirius, who was apparently oblivious to all.

Peter came right to the point. "But," he said bemusedly, sitting up from where he had been lying on the cushions on the floor, "how is Mary going to go?"

Sirius looked up and gave a funny shrug, frowning, as though to ask how that was his problem.

"I'm not going," Mary said. Everyone turned to look at her now. Her chin was raised defiantly, and her voice was remarkably cool, but there was color in her cheeks. "It's all right, you know I don't really like to go to dances anyway."

"No, you don't have to," David said, though somewhat quietly. "Peter can take you –"

"No." There was force to the word. Mary took a quick breath and continued, as she seemed to automatically close her books, "I really don't want to go. It pretty much sucked for me last year, and I can stay behind with Remus. It's fine." She stood and walked calmly out to her dorm.

There was a moment of silence after her withdrawal, then Lily turned her head to Sirius. "Bastard."

There was no venom in her tone, but it lacked the joking air the boys had when they swore at each other. Lily and Sirius had never been reconciled, and that became more evident than ever now.

Sirius was smiling, but it was a dangerous smile they recognized as one he saved for when he was very angry. "Do you want to discuss this, Lil?"

"Padfoot, lay off," said James, but very quietly. Sirius made no sign that he heard.

Lily said, "I don't see there's that much to discuss –"

"Oh, but we both agree there is something." He got up. "Let's step away for a moment then, shall we?"

Lily also stood, though James tried to grab her arm. "Let me go," she snapped, pulling away.

They walked to a deserted corner, and turned to face each other.

"What would you have had me do, Lil? Plead with her to go with me again?"

"You didn't have any trouble doing that last year."

"A lot happens in a year. I would think you would know that – you've gone from Snape to James, haven't you?"

Lily flinched, but by no means backed down. "This is about _you_ and _Mary_."

His body language and soft, vicious tones told her he was getting angrier by the second. "You want me to ask her, just so we can perhaps flirt for a night, then go back and forth for a week afterward, until finally she says no?"

"How do you know –"

"She _isn't_ going to date me, Lil. My God – you're amazing, you really are. You think you know all about Rose and Mary and how they work, when you know _shit_."

Lily was too furious now to calculate how upset he was. "What makes you think –"

"Do you know why Mary won't date me? Do you?"

She snarled. "Yes, I know enough."

"Oh no you don't. If you did, you wouldn't be yelling at me like this right now."

Lily couldn't even begin to figure out what that meant. "Fine – whatever the reason, I don't care, but that doesn't give you the excuse to be such an asshole –"

"Fuck you, Lily."

Completely stunned, she took a step back. He had never – no one had, other than…but he had never said that to her before. He hadn't even come close. It had been a hiss – if James had heard….

But Sirius continued, his great control almost cracking seen by how his voice was shaking, "Do not blame me because I moved on and date other girls. I'm sorry if your little hopes for a perfect family didn't work out, but you still don't even know why – and if she can't move on, if she's going to be so immature about this like that –"

He had crossed the final line. Without thinking, Lily's wand was in her hand, pointed at his face, the worst curse she knew –

"_Expelliarmus_!"

The wand flew from her fingertips. She was about to hit him anyway with her bare hand, when hands grabbed her shoulders, pulling her back, while others pulled Sirius away. She was too incensed to see who.

"All right, Lily, calm down…"

It was a mark of – something – by how even when she just heard his voice, she did calm down. James was standing directly in front of her, a rather white Rose to the side. Looking over, she saw Remus, Peter, and David pushing Sirius toward the stairs, instructing him to take a very, very cold shower.

"He's such a – son of a –" she muttered.

James looked agitated. "He is my best mate."

"Well, I hate him," said Lily viciously.

"What did he say, Lily?" Rose asked.

But Lily blew out her breath and shook her head. She wouldn't tell them – especially not James. She had seen what it was like when the Marauders were fractured, and it had not been a pleasant time.

James was rubbing her arms up and down. "That is calming me down," she told him.

"Oh, really?" He gave her a quick kiss. "And does that?"

"I'm becoming _very_ calm. But I need more."

He kissed her again, and again, until she was laughing. "Oh, James, you work miracles, do you know?"

"I am James Potter, Wonder Boy."

"I love you."

The words had slipped out, made easy by the emotional swings she had just had. She had said them half-laughing and without any passion, but sincerely. But she felt herself blushing now as he stopped moving and looked at her – much reminiscent of the first time she held his hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rose slip away, picking up Lily's wand on the way out.

Still embarrassed, she kissed him again gently, and they came to a stop with their foreheads touching.

"You are very sweet," she murmured. He only smiled back.

Lily and Sirius's terms of relation were settled with surprising speed and ease: they simply did not communicate with each other at all. It was also surprising how easy this turned out to be, but the others were quite willing to cooperate if it meant avoiding a public duel to the death.

* * *

Very late on the night of the Seventh Year Dance, Severus Snape sat at the back to his empty dorm, waiting. He was patient – he had been waiting for hours, and was prepared to wait an hour more.

The dormitory door creaked open, and Severus looked toward it, his wand loose in his hands, but quite ready.

A sixth-year boy entered and walked toward him. He held out a stack of photos silently, and just as silently Severus took them and stood up, holding them up so he could see by the light of the torch on the wall behind him.

Lily, in a long, velvet dress of a light gold color with a silver rope around her waist and hanging down in the front, and a gold circlet with pearls around her head. Lily, standing alone by the punch table, watching something or someone, smiling faintly. And again, with her sister, who wore a similar dress. There, outside, fingering a yellow rose on a bush, and there, sitting in a chair by the wall.

There were almost a dozen pictures total. Severus flipped through them all, hardly having to worry about keeping his face expressionless. He was only looking now to make sure Derris had fulfilled his requirements, and the boy had: they were all of Lily, occasionally with Rose included, but never a boy.

"Where was the other sister – the dark one?" Severus asked abruptly.

"She wasn't there. I looked."

Severus felt his brow crease, and another thought came to him. "Was Black there?"

"Yeah – hanging all over his date. You didn't say you wanted anything of them." Derris's voice betrayed a slight hint of worry.

Decidedly, Severus pushed the photos in his pocket. "No. I didn't." He reached into his other pocket and dropped three Galleons into Derris's palm.

But when Derris was halfway out the door, Severus preformed a quick, soundless Memory Charm.

After Lily, he didn't trust anyone.

* * *

The NEWTs took place earlier than all the other exams, including the fifth years' OWLs, the reason being that it gave them time to sort out what they wanted to do immediately after leaving school. Again came the leaflets and brochures of two years ago, but this time they had more of a fill-this-form-out-NOW urgency. Mary, who was much envied for her carefree attitude toward it all, leaned over and picked through whatever was laying around.

James and Lily appreciated very much their right to the private study rooms and small libraries they had as Head Boy and Girl, and when things became too stressful, they would often retreat thus together.

One time that they did, Lily asked him with a sigh, "What do you really want to do…not what you think you should do, or what you'll probably end up doing - but what do you want to do?"

James sighed in return, leaning his head back. "You'll think it's silly."

"No I won't. Not unless you say a conductor of the Knight Bus, or an assistant at Madame Malkin's –"

He laughed. "I was quite seriously considering that, but they said I wouldn't get a very good discount, so –" His voice became that of a hopeful little kid. "I wanna be a Quidditch star!"

Surprised, she rolled over from where she was lying across his lap to look up at him. "Really? I didn't know you were that serious about it."

He shrugged, looking down but not at her. "It's just what I _want_ to do. Keep playing games for a living. Never grow up."

She poked him. "You're eighteen."

"Says who?"

"Your mother. But that's not such a bad goal. At least you know what you want – I have no idea. At _all_." She rubbed her forehead and eyes.

He took her hands. "Well, you're Head Girl, prefect – you've been top of your year for a number of years, Merlin knows you're going to do well on your NEWTs, better than your OWLs…it wouldn't be hard for you to get something you did like. And you're barely eighteen – don't drive yourself mad about it now."

* * *

Lily yawned, moving both her hands and his to cover her mouth. "You're right. I'll wait a few months to start panicking."

The day the seventh years were released into the world was hectic indeed. There was a scramble for possessions, more serious than before, as they realized there should be no returning in the autumn to pick up anything left behind. The Gryffindors were luckier in this aspect, as Mary could be counted on to send them anything left behind.

As they waited at the station in Hogsmeade, it seemed unusually loud, and all the seventh years were drawn together in a separate group.

Rose slipped apart, away from her friends, making her way through the crowd. She headed toward the dark shadows by the brick wall, and found her guess was correct.

"Severus."

His head jerked toward her, the curtain of hair swinging back. He was slouching against the wall, the area surprisingly secluded. Rose stepped forward slowly.

"I wanted to say goodbye." She held out her hand.

Severus's eyes seemed to dart around, then rather reluctantly, he took it. Very quickly Rose took another step forward and embraced him, then stepped back again, all so fast he had no time to react.

"And I just wanted to say if you ever really needed anything, I want you to know you could always come to me," she said, sounding rather rushed. "Owl me or something…I'd want to help, really." She pushed her hair back nervously. "Goodbye, Severus."

He gave a short nod, so his hair fell back into his face, and said something that might or might not have been goodbye.

Rose nodded again, took one more step back, then turned and went back into the crowd of graduates.

* * *

**Author notes**: So concludes Book Eight. Again, apologies for the delay. Have been having difficulty. In other news, I have begun a correspondence with my characters on my public livejournal lavinia. We'll see how long it lasts, but if you're very bored, check there, and you might find out the reason for the most current delay. 


	24. Book Nine: Life Ever After

**Book Nine – Life Ever After**

_**Part One**_

Natalie went with Lily, Rose, and Mary to the country house for the first time to explain how she had handled it.

"I stopped them from putting the furniture up for auction," she said, as they walked up the road toward the old house, "as there wasn't time to contact you about it. I also had to go into this house in order to determine where to store some of the furniture – I hope you don't mind. But only some of it is here – I also took some back to my own house, just for storage purposes, until you decide what you want to keep."

It was three days after they had come home – and this time, not for the holidays. Petunia had already moved out of the Potters' house, leaving behind only a vague address and no telephone number. Clearly, she had begun her long-planned withdrawal from the wizarding world.

"There it is," said Natalie, coming to a stop. They had apparated – for Mary, it was the first time – into the town, which was really no more than a glorified village, and walked up the road to it.

The house was apart from all the others, distanced by the town's knowledge of what the women who lived in the house were. The lawn was expansive, extending on all sides. To the left of the house was a square garden, surrounded by a low white fence with an archway leading to it. But even from a distance behind the house, it was apparent that that and the rest of the yard had gone wild. A short distance behind the house, the land descended sharply as rough rocks into the sea.

A narrow cobblestone path led up to the house. Natalie stood by, quite patiently, waiting for them to lead the way up to it.

Lily looked up at the house. It was both like and not like what she remembered. She had recalled it as big, but not three – no, partially four storys. And she had remembered that top balcony, but not those windows there.

They went up the steps, onto the porch, to the front door. Natalie held out a key, which Lily took, and carefully turned it in the lock, then turned the handle, and the door opened. It swung in easily enough, only with the initial pressure and protesting groan of an old door.

There was silence as they stepped over the threshold. Natalie stayed back, close to the door as it was shut, as Lily, Rose, and Mary slowly walked forward. Each, individually, began to explore the ground floor – Mary going left into the kitchen, Rose and Lily heading right, past the stairs, into the parlor. They worked their way around in a circle, passing each other at the conservatory, and together they came upstairs, to the bedrooms and balconies.

It was funny how memory worked – how one remembered the vague outline of something, but when re-visiting, is surprised all over again by the details that jump out. Lily was taken aback again and again when she turned to find a bedside table, or framed set of leaves that she hadn't remembered.

They finally stopped at the top of the house, on the roof, leaning out over a rail.

"Why did we ever move?" It was the first time they had spoken since they entered the house. Mary had put forth the question, but she didn't receive an answer.

Rose sighed dreamily. "Mary, you poor child. You have to return to Hogwarts."

"Well, I'm coming home for the holidays, and you can't stop me."

A sudden laugh burst from Lily, and turning she impulsively hugged Mary. "Oh, you know we'll miss you as much as we did first year."

"Right. With this house to play in, and the twins coming over every night to _ravish _you – by the time of Rose's birthday, I'll send an owl, and you'll look at each other and say, 'We have a sister? Oh, doesn't she have blonde hair or something?'"

After a short discussion, they decided to keep all the original furniture that was covered in sheets in the house, and sell everything else that was brought out of the old house in the suburbs. Meanwhile, they set to work re-awakening the house to daily use. Mary attacked the garden and conservatory particularly.

It was a week before they would allow the boys to come in for a tour, which was a great, formal event, as they led them from room to room.

"And you said this was your mother's house?" Remus asked, gazing up at a framed, amateur sketch of a tree and a man standing beneath it.

"Yes – and her mother's, and hers, and on and on, for a very long time," Rose replied. "In fact, I think we've been the only ones to ever live in it."

"We were," Mary said, sounding a bit annoyed that Rose wasn't sure on the subject. "Maria had the house built. It was extended and redone a bit in the early 1800s, but it's never changed hands." Her eyes and cheeks were bright, as they had been practically since they moved in. She seemed to be in a constant state of excitement over every aspect of the house – from the old silver, to the worn banisters, and the windows that only opened with difficulty. Mary refused to let her sisters fix them, though they suggested a compromise: leaving the windows in her own room alone.

"It's really nice," said Peter, looking down the stairwell.

"I can see we'll be entertaining all of you a lot in the future," said Lily.

"Actually, you won't for a while," James replied, turning to face her.

"Why not?"

All five of them had turned together now, smiling the well-known smile of a secret joke.

"We," Sirius announced, "are going away."

"From all of you," David added.

"For months and months," Peter said solemnly.

"What are you talking about?" Rose said, frowning.

"Mum, as way of congratulating us on graduating from a seven-year boarding school, is sending us away to Europe for six months," said James matter-of-factly.

Rose stared at him. "You're _kidding_."

"Except that we aren't," Peter said.

"What are you going to do in Europe?" she demanded.

"Travel, of course. France, Spain, Germany, Italy…"

"Without _us_?" cried Rose, and Lily thought for a moment she might stamp her foot. "For six months?"

"Rose, it is something we must do," Sirius said gravely. "We are passing into manhood – we must go out, find ourselves and our place in the world."

"While we just sit here, waiting for you, hoping for an occasional owl –"

"Rose," David interrupted her gently, coming forward and placing an arm around her shoulders and taking her hand in his. He led her away down the stairs.

The rest of the boys looked to Lily and Mary, a trace of apprehension on their faces.

Mary shrugged. "Hardly matters to me, as I'm leaving anyway o go back to Hogwarts. Though I expect the occasional owl too."

Lily was looking directly at James. She narrowed her eyes, studying him sharply. "When are you leaving?"

James fidgeted uncomfortably. "Sometime next week?"

Lily opened her mouth, then shut it again. Her gaze did not lessen, and she finally asked dryly, "Well, don't you have any words of comfort for me?"

Still looking uncomfortable, James made a courteous gesture that included something of a bow, indicating that Lily should go up the stairs that led to the roof before him. She did, haughtily, leaving Mary with Sirius, Remus, and Peter.

It was almost too hot outside. Squinting, Lily looked down at the grounds, and saw Rose and David standing in the shade of a tree, behind the garden.

"What's David saying to Rose?" she asked James without turning.

He shrugged as he came to stand by her. "Whatever he needs to."

She looked up at him again, feeling detached. It should be the same way to between her and James as it was with David and Rose – should be. But it wasn't. She couldn't feel Rose's agitation.

James leaned in closer, and without really thinking she tilted her head to meet him. It was a long, sweet kiss, and when they separated Lily felt both better and worse – reassured, and depressed.

"I'm certainly going to miss you," she told him. He grinned, seeming happy about that.

"I'll send you postcards from every place we stop at," he promised.

"Of the local Quidditch teams?"

"Well, of course."

After the boys left, Rose came back inside, eyes and nose red.

"You know," she said thoughtfully to Lily and Mary, "sometimes I wonder if David and I aren't together just because people expect us to be. Really. We began dating fourth year, when things were all bright and rosy, and everyone expected Lily to marry James and me to marry David. And now we're out of school, away from everyone, and of age, and now I think we're going to discover that there's nothing really holding us together after all. After he leaves, I'm going to find someone else, and fall in love – real love. And he'll probably meet some girl in Paris named _Celine_, and they'll get married and settle down and never come back to Britain. And I won't care."

"Sounds reasonable, Rose," said Mary. "I always thought he was losing interest."

Rose whirled on her. "Don't you dare question his loyalty!" she cried. "I think if he wanted to leave me, I would certainly know!" And she ran up the stairs.

Mary grinned at Lily, who couldn't help but smile in response, looking where Rose had disappeared.

"They'll be fine," Mary declared. "Probably get married the day after they come back."

"Probably," Lily agreed.

Nothing more was said for several moments as Lily stared out the window, toward the sea, and Mary sat at the table with an old notebook before her. Then Mary stirred, looking toward her.

"Lily."

"Hmm."

"Do I have to go back to school for my last year?"

Lily whirled searching Mary's face to see if she was serious. It seemed that she was. Puzzled, she sat down at the table with her. "Why, Mary?"

"I don't need to. It'll be terribly boring, there all alone – don't laugh at me, you know what I mean – and I've already been there six years, got good marks on my OWLs – if there's really anything else I need to learn, you and Rose could teach me."

"Actually, I think seventh year is your most important year. And what about NEWTs?"

Mary shrugged. "You don't _need_ NEWTs…"

"For what? Mary darling, do you have any idea what you want to do with yourself?"

She pouted. "Work in the garden…sell herbs to the village."

Lily couldn't help it. She leaned her head back and laughed.

"Shut up – fine, I'll open a botanical shoppe. There used to be one in the family." She brightened as another idea struck her. "Or I could sell ingredients to apothecaries!"

Sobering, Lily looked again at her. "Now that isn't a bad idea. So – go back to Hogwarts, take Advanced Herbology and Potions."

Mary groaned.

"Oh, go on – it'll be good for you. We all seem to be taking a break from each other."

"Except for you and Rose, since you collapse in pain if the other goes a hundred yards away…"

Lily laughed again. "Speaking of Rose, let's go upstairs and tell her we love her."

Two days later, an owl came for Rose with a response from one of the places she had applied for a position – a floristry in Hogsmeade. She went in for an interview, and came back a working woman.

"I am independent," she declared solemnly, looking around at her sisters and the boys – particularly at David. It was the day before the boys left, and they were in Hogsmeade, having briefly visited Rose's new job.

Mary was busy playing with a toy they had bought earlier from the joke shop which the boys had insisted on visiting again. It was a small ball of light that clung to skin – Mary watched as it ran under and over her fingers, spin around her wrist, and travel up and down her arm.

"You know that's meant as something to entertain young children, right?" Remus asked her.

"But it's fun," said Mary animatedly, holding up her arm so it traveled to her other hand.

Lily walked close by James's side, Sirius and Peter on his other side. David had, until now, been talking easily and apparently oblivious to Rose. But at this point he abruptly stopped in his tracks. Everyone turned to look at him.

"Lily – Mary," David said, turning to each of them and taking their hand in turn. "This is when we say goodbye."

"Where are you going?" Mary asked, her hand carrying the light toy falling to her side.

"Away," he said dramatically, now pulling Rose to his side, "with Rose, for an evening of romance that she will not forget for six months."

Lily grinned at Rose, who was suddenly glowing.

"By all means, go," said Mary. "Rose needs a night of such intense love."

Rose went even redder. She seemed to have lost her voice, which was a noticeable change with the amount of talking she had been doing tonight and the past few days.

Without further ado, David linked his arm through Rose's and disapparated.

Lily gave James a sidelong glance. David and Rose's leaving for a night of their own was quite understandable given the length of their relationship – she didn't know what to expect from him.

But James turned from her and kissed Mary lightly on the cheek, then turning back to Lily, informed her, "Now say goodbye to Remus."

"Oh –" Caught off guard, and laughing slightly, Lily hugged Remus and Peter and kissed them both on the cheek and nodded to Sirius, who returned it with a smile that reminded her of the ones he used to give Snape (they had graduated to that much civility).

James wrapped his arms around her from behind, and disapparated with her.

* * *

The next morning Lily stood in the kitchen, undertaking another attempt at cooking with magic. Her hair was back in two very messy braids. Out in the living room, Mary was reclining on a sofa with a cloth over her eyes, waiting for the potion for hangovers she had just drunk to take effect. 

"I still can't believe they gave you so much to drink."

Mary let out an impatient – but quiet – sigh. "They _didn't_. Honestly, Lily, would Remus, Peter, or Sirius think it's funny to get me drunk?"

"Sirius," Lily murmured, but Mary heard her over the sizzling of the sausages.

"Maybe under completely different circumstances, Sirius would." She shifted. "Ah, now I feel it working…anyhow, I'm quite capable of getting myself drunk, Lily."

But Lily was still preoccupied with the Sirius factor. She opened her mouth – heard "_You think you know all about Rose and Mary…do you know why Mary won't date me? Do you?_" in the back of her mind – and closed it again.

In the living room, Mary lifted the corner of the cloth over her eyes and craned her neck to peer at her. "Lily? You aren't really angry at me for drinking last night, are you?"

"Oh – no, of course not." Lily reached for a platter to levitate the sausages onto. "The boys were with you, anyway – they wouldn't have let you do anything too stupid. I'm just – wondering why Rose isn't home yet."

"Oh." Experimentally, Mary took the cloth off and sat up, blinking blearily. "Perhaps she convinced David to let her go to Europe with them."

Lily peered into the porridge, which was still stirring itself dutifully. "Sirius wouldn't allow it." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the milk jug tilt up and fill a glass – Lily turned her head to watch the glass float across the kitchen and into the adjoining room, into Mary's outstretched hand.

There was a pop, Rose's voice called, "I'm home," and Lily almost dropped the sausages. She shoved them hurriedly onto the counter and went out into the front room.

Both Rose's cheeks and eyes were very bright. She was smiling widely, her lips slightly parted, but it looked like she was suppressing an even bigger grin. Her eyes glanced back and forth from Lily to Mary. Lily looked at her and wondered if she herself had been that obvious last summer, in Bristol, when she had gone back to her sisters' room after that first night.

"No." Mary's eyes were wide. She raised both her hands, palms out, as though warding something off. Apparently she could read Rose as well as Lily could. "Oh, no." Palms still out, Mary slowly slid her legs off the couch, stood up, and began backing away toward the stairs. "No – not a word –"

Suddenly, as though afraid she could no longer hold her off, Mary whirled around and dashed up the stairs, hands clapped over her ears and loudly singing a song Lily recognized as one by The Quidditch Queers.

"_Thirteen hundred years ago  
My eyes cried out in pain!  
I saw the sight; I fled the site  
But memories remain…._"

Lily looked at Rose, who started laughing like she didn't understand, and said, "_What?_"

"Well," said Lily, crossing her arms and tilting her head to appear thoughtful, "I suppose it's because you're her sister, and David, well, is clearly going to be her brother eventually, and she doesn't want to hear about your night of – especially your _first_ night of – sexual relations."

That did it. Rose burst into hysterical laughter that didn't stop for nearly five minutes. Lily led her into the kitchen and made her sit at the small table while she finished breakfast.

"Oh, Merlin," Rose sighed when she finally stopped giggling. Lily gave the stove a final point with her wand to turn it off and leaned on the back of a chair to face her.

Rose was studying her as though trying to discern something. "You can't imagine," she declared finally. "You just can't – unless – did you and James sleep together last night?"

"Nope."

"Well then – but no, what you did with Severus simply can't compare –"

"Well, thank you," said Lily, laughing.

"It _can't_!" Rose insisted. "Maybe with James you could get some idea…" She fell to musing, while Lily smiled down at her benignly.

"I'm glad you had such an excellent last night."

Rose's smile widened again; she looked up at Lily with large, inquisitive eyes. "What _did_ you and James do?"

Lily shrugged. "Came back here, actually – we had it to ourselves, Mary stayed out with Sirius, Remus, and Peter. We kissed, talked, kissed…a few other things…but no great Potter sex, no." Rose sighed sadly. "Eat your sausages."

She picked one up obediently, and after a few bites seemed to suddenly grow more sober. "Did – are you reluctant to do it with James because…of what you've already done with Severus?"

The lightheaded mood dashed away, Lily pulled out the chair and sat down. She gazed out the window, at the lawn and the ocean beyond it before answering. "I suppose so. He knows, you know…we haven't talked about it. I'm sure he remembers, of course. Last night…he sort of left it open to me, to push things farther if I wanted to, and…I didn't." She lifted her hand to her mouth and chewed on the skin of a knuckle absentmindedly. "He's very good, you know. Some boys – if there was a girl who'd been with their worst enemy like I'd been with Severus, they wouldn't touch her."

Rose made a soft "pssh" noise. "He's a Potter."

Lily dropped her hand to the table and smiled at her. "While we're discussing the less glorious side of sex…was it all right? For you, I mean – were you bothered?"

"By that?" Rose shook her head, her eyes lowered. "No. The weirdest part was when he kissed my stomach."

Despite herself, Lily snorted. "What did he give you?"

"Oh – it was a spell. Not a potion."

Lily nodded thoughtfully, then froze as a terrible thought occurred to her. "A – a spell for contraception– "

"It's all right," said Rose quickly. "It was just a common one – strong, but common – and I checked ages ago, back at Hogwarts – it won't hurt it. And Dumbledore told me, when he gave me the second potion – sex is all right too." There was a pause, and she added, "I looked it all up…what would be all right and what isn't."

"Oh." Lily ducked her head now, because she felt a catch at the back of her throat. "Thank you."

* * *

Standing at the platform and watching the Hogwarts Express move away with Mary inside, was one of the strangest experiences of Lily's life. She felt oddly connected with the misty-eyed parents around her. 

She and Rose both had jobs now – Rose, still at the Hogsmeade floristry, and Lily, part time at a Muggle bakery, and part time with a Ministry job Natalie had helped arrange for her, in the Department of Magical Transportation, the Broom Regulatory Control division. There were only two parts of this division that were controlled by the Ministry, and they were to check over all the brooms, ensuring that they were all safe for the public, and to make sure those who used them stayed clear of Muggles. But most of the division was hired directly by the broom companies, who paid wizards to enchant the brooms with whatever extra features they might have. Lily was working with Cleansweep Inc. – she wasn't able, in her first year, to be with the new, higher-paying Nimbus. Together, Lily and Rose made a nice amount.

The promised European owls did make regular appearances, along with Mary's new owl they had bought her for this year. The boys' letters were filled with entertaining anecdotes of various encounters they had, and highly interesting presents the 9th of September, Rose's eighteenth birthday. All in all, autumn would have passed happily enough without Mary or the boys, but for the attack on the 31st of October.

Lily arrived at the Ministry that day at a quarter to noon, as usual (her bakery hours were quite early in the morning). Her colleagues seemed particularly unfocused that day, being much more preoccupied with the Halloween parties that were taking place that night. Lily didn't mind enchanting a new set of Cleansweeps with Cushioning Charms by herself.

It was a little past four, and Lily had finished her quota and was going over all of them again with the regulatory checks, when she heard the shrill voice of Brenda Quirke, the department's receptionist. She often heard Brenda's voice through the door and walls of the large room in which she worked with other charm specialists. It was almost deserted now, but for her and her friend Brian Turpin, who was not too many years older than she was. He was "taking a break" from working on his own stack of Cleansweeps, and was leafing through some magazine, but he had looked up now as Brenda's voice sounded through the room, though her words were unclear. It took Lily a moment to realize why it sounded different – usually, there was some sound of others talking and laughing with whatever announcement Brenda had – but now, there was only her high-pitched voice to be heard.

"Best go see what's going on, eh?" said Brian, getting up and striding to the door. Lily pushed back her chair and followed him, wand still in hand. He opened the door and moved enough so she could in the doorway with him.

Brenda often came to the large room of cubicles to call out news. Her post also handled interdepartmental work, and so she often found out news that would be the next day's newspaper headliners.

Now her violently curly hair was frizzing, her cheeks pale with blotches of red, eyes wide behind her pointed glasses. Those who worked in cubicles were standing up in them now, and as Lily looked out, she saw others who worked in rooms like hers appear in their doorway.

"– there were bodies, just left lying in the house, that awful skull floating above it all –"

"Dead?" said a cubicle worker Lily didn't know. "All dead?"

"Every one!" cried Brenda. "It was the Killing Curse!"

"Who?" said Brian sharply. "Who's dead?"

"The McKinnons!"

There were several simultaneous intakes of breath all around the room. And at this point, the supervisor of the department, Dale Nott, strode into full sight.

"How do you know, Brenda?" he asked sharply. "Who told you this?"

"I had to go up to the second level, and the Aurors were all gone...my friend Miranda Stebbins told me they had all ran out barely half an hour ago – the McKinnons' neighbors had just made the report, they saw the mark, that ghastly skull, in the sky above their house…."

"Marlene?" whispered a witch on the other side of the room Lily didn't know. "Marlene's dead?"

Brenda nodded tremulously. The witch started to cry as Brenda continued, "Marlene – Rob – Amanda, Evan, and Rupert…."

Lily leaned against the door, feeling stunned. Brian noticed her face.

"Did you know any of them?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah. Amanda – was in my year at school. Not in my house, she was a Ravenclaw – but we were both prefects, and we tutored together…" Lily pressed her forehead to her hand on the doorway. Others were starting to sob now around the room.

"So –" Brian bit his lip. "She was – how old are you? Nineteen?"

"Eighteen." Lily felt nauseous. "She might have been nineteen, I don't know."

"Rob McKinnon got me my first job," said Brian softly.

"_Why?_" cried a man, Geoffrey Thomas, who worked with the Nimbuses. "Why – who would –"

"Well – it was the skull with the snake –"

"We know _who_…"

"You-Know-Who –"

"But _why_, they were purebloods –"

"I think – didn't Marlene have a Muggle grandparent?"

"You-Know-Who…You-Know-Who…" The name buzzed around the room.

Dale Nott, who seemed to have frozen temporarily, appeared to come back to life. "All right, that's enough! Brenda, back to your station now – everyone, return to work, I don't want to hear any more talk about this…" He walked over to the woman who had begun crying first and was now being comforted by a friend, and Lily heard him say, "Emma, you may go home…."

Brian closed the door. Lily looked up to meet his gaze.

"You can go home, Lily. Nothing's going to get down now, and you've already done your share – Nott won't make a fuss."

"Thanks," muttered Lily, and moved to gather her things.

Not ten minutes later, she had apparated to Hogsmeade and was hurrying to Rose's shoppe.

"Yes, I know," Rose told her when she came behind the counter to whisper the news. "The order just came in, we're doing the funeral flowers…five caskets to cover…."

This was the first mass attack on a wizarding family – there hadn't even been one on a less popular or well-known family. Disappearances had increased alarmingly over the last year, with the skull and serpent over the empty homes, a couple wizards had been found dead – a few months ago, a Muggle family of three was murdered with the Dark Mark above their house. That had caused a small panic, taking no little work to cover up from other Muggles. But after the McKinnon massacre, as it began to be called, the wizarding world was brought to sudden awareness of what was going on. Before, it was a subject that was considered indelicate to mention – it was something they wanted to pretend wasn't happening. But now, they could not. Almost overnight, it became reality for nearly everyone, and people were afraid.

The boys' owls took a sudden serious turn with instructions for security spells for the house, most with a twist of their own invention. Lily and Rose began visiting Natalie and Joseph Potter on the weekends.

Sirius spent his nineteenth birthday in Prague, the letters informed them, and he certainly made the most of it. Then Christmas was drawing near, and none of the boys would say when they were returning to Britain. Lily and Rose hoped they would be home for Christmas, the twins' birthdays, and Mary's eighteenth, though she would have to be back at Hogwarts for the actual day. Natalie told them it was simple – if they weren't home for Christmas or their birthday, they wouldn't get any presents.

Lily and Rose were delighted to meet Mary at King's Cross a week before Christmas. She seemed thrilled to be home, running into the garden to inspect Lily's preservation charms against the cold. But Lily had a strange feeling, at the back of her mind, that Mary was different – changed from when they had seen her onto the train at the start of term. They had seen her briefly at Hogsmeade, and she had been as cheerful and careless as she was now, but she looked – taller – to Lily, though she was certain her height hadn't changed. Mary made hints to her that she was glad Lily had made her go back to Hogwarts for her final year.

* * *

**Author notes: **And so begins Book Nine, after hardly a month's waiting time. Ph34r me. (Just because I've always wanted to type that.) 

Also - the song "Oh, Merlin, No!", its lyrics, and the Quidditch Queers are all property of Sohara von Salienta, copyrighted 2005. Reproduced with permission.


	25. Part Two of Book Nine

**Author notes:** Oh my _God_, I'm sorry. Wow. Had no idea so much time had passed. Many thanks to Amanda for emailing and reminding me.

Review of the hour goes to **Eden Nykara**. Thank you, honey, for something neither I nor this story deserves. About the thirteen-paragraph flame below – it's anonymous, y'know, and there's a reason why I didn't delete it: it's just too great. It told me I had my no rhythm! No, you couldn't pay me to delete such a treasure. And I've seen others have gotten the same – it's impersonal, you see. A troll sent it, that's all.

* * *

But Christmas day came and went, Mary, Lily, and Rose spending it largely at the Potters. The next day the girls stayed at their house, hopefully waiting for a surprise appearance, but after 10:30 at night they went upstairs to their respective bedrooms. 

It was a few hours later that Lily woke up. Her eyes opened and she lay still, adjusting to the dark shapes of her room, feeling sleepy and wondering what caused her to wake up.

Then there was a crack against her window, and her eyes snapped to it. A few seconds passed, and there was another crack against the glass, making it tremble, and this time she saw what it was – a small stone had bounced off the window.

Lily remained still only a moment longer. She slid out of bed, picking up her wand on the bedside table, and moved to the side of the large window, out of sight behind the curtains from anyone looking up. Peering through the gap between curtains and wall, she saw shadowy figures on the lawn below. Her heart missed a beat – _Death Eaters_ was her first thought. Just a couple weeks ago, at the site of the last attack, the words _We are Death Eaters, Servants of the Dark Lord_ had been scorched into the side of a building. The name for those apparently responsible for all the deaths had spread like fire.

As she stood frozen, one of the figures lifted an arm and threw something. Another pebble hit her window.

Now a little bit of reason was making itself heard through the paranoia. Why would Death Eaters throw rocks at windows to get the occupants' attention before murdering them? Forced entry seemed to be much more their style.

Lily leaned forward, getting a better look at them. There were only five, she saw. There was very little lighting, only what came form the sky, for the house was a distance from the town and its streetlights. She stared hard at the forms in the dark, then realization struck her and she dashed out of the room.

Hardly a minute later, she, Rose, and Mary pushed open the glass doors in the room next to Lily's and leaned over the rail of the balcony.

"You're too late!" Mary shouted. "Christmas's over!"

Laughs were heard below, and the five boys moved to stand beneath them.

"It's not yet midnight!" a voice they all recognized as David's called up. "Still our birthdays!"

"Go home, then!" Lily returned. "Your mother may let you in. Don't expect to be let in here, though. Perhaps in the morning."

"Bull-shit," Sirius's voice exploded. "It's _cold_. We can exchange witty banter inside." Indeed, snow had just begun drifting down.

"Excuse you?" Rose called mockingly. "You take a six-month holiday, leaving us in a highly dangerous environment, and expect us to welcome your unannounced return with champagne at any given hour?"

"Of course not," James answered. "We expect the champagne party the following day."

Rose straightened. "Goodnight, boys. I hope you find somewhere to sleep – most wizards aren't inclined to unbar their doors past ten o'clock these days."

"_Damn_ it, Rose!" This was from David, naturally. "I thought we settled this!"

_"Lumos."_ The group on the ground was suddenly illuminated by Remus's wand. They were revealed to be wearing thick European cloaks and their old school scarves. The sight of their upturned faces, changed in only the slight ways six months brings, made Lily feel a sudden wave of affection for them. She hadn't been aware of how much she missed them.

"David," Remus advised, "there's nothing for it. Look like there's only one way they'll let us in."

"Bugger." David sighed, then squinted back up at the dark balcony. "Can't you give us a little light too?"

Lily held up her wand, and the tip flared.

"That's better." David shook his head to get his hair out of his eyes – Lily noticed both he and James had apparently not cut it since they had left, perhaps in the latest attempt to make it behave to a degree. Then, quite suddenly, he shouted up, "Rose, will you marry me?"

Rose swayed. Lily grabbed Rose's elbow, both in excitement and in an attempt to steady her. Recovering, Rose leaned over the railing again.

_"That's it?"_ she cried. "No flowers, not even a ring? Honestly, David, after all these years I expected something a little more dramatic!"

"I have a ring!" said David indignantly, and began patting around his cloak. "Somewhere…"

Smiling, Remus pulled out a small white box out of his own cloak and held it out.

"Oh – thanks, Moony. Catch!" David tossed it up to the balcony. Mary, with undoubtedly the quickest reflexes, lunged forward and caught it. She handed it to Rose, who quickly opened it with Lily's wand hovering above, and all three girls leaning close winced, blinking back tears from the unexpected brightness.

"What is it?" Rose called, as their eyes adjusted.

"Gold, white gold," David answered, "and a diamond. Picked it up in Austria."

The diamond, for all of its magical luster, was not extremely large. Nor could it have been said to be small – it was just barely out of the "average" category. After the first blinding impression, Lily found it glinting white and cold against the black interior of the ring box.

"Well?" shouted David, now sounding impatient.

Rose took it out and slid it on the ring finger of her left hand, holding it up to the light of Lily's wand. Lily had thought, looking at it in the box, that the pointed, marquis diamond was too refined, too elegant for Rose – it looked more like it belonged at the much talked-of Malfoy wedding that had taken place not too long ago, on the hand of the icy, untouchably beautiful Narcissa. But when Rose held her hand up, Lily was taken aback by the effect it had on her – the edges of the ring seemed to bring out the matching angles in Rose – from her slender fingers, down her long arm, her thin frame, to her high cheekbones. The snow had abated for the moment, and in its place a small wind began to stir, lifting Rose's thin, light red hair, swirling it around her face. Looking at Rose in that moment, at her green eyes half-hidden as she looked down at the ring, Lily felt astonished by her sister's beauty. How was it that she had never seen her full potential before?

Down on the lawn below, David said so softly the girls above could not hear, "What did I tell you?"

He stepped forward, attracting Lily, Rose, and Mary's attention again. His joking air was completely gone now, and Lily knew he saw what she saw. "Well?" he said again. "Will the most beautiful girl in the world marry me?"

Lily had never heard a boy say that with such complete sincerity visible in his voice and face before.

Rose was looking down at him, her eyes still partially hidden, but Lily knew the green she could see was not so bright only due to the light. "What do you think?" she called back down, her voice shaking slightly.

* * *

There was much to do. 

They went to the Potters' early to break the news. Natalie Potter burst into tears and hugged Rose and cried for so long her sons were seriously alarmed. Then, abruptly, the great debate of details began. Everyone was talking at once. The first order of business was to set a date. Mary was furious about it – first shouting that it had to be in three days, or wait until the summer – then, changing her mind, insisting she would find out when a Hogsmeade weekend was – finally, she declared they could have the wedding whenever they liked, she would simply ride to a train station on her broom, and Dumbledore could expel her if he liked. Natalie assured her that he let students go home for their relatives' weddings on weekends.

An hour later, nothing had been resolved and Rose was thoroughly overwhelmed, while David sat back out of the discussions, only repeating that the only thing he cared about in the business was that Rose would still be the one he was going to be talking to at the altar. So Natalie let them go home with a catalogue of wedding robes and a promise to compile a list of other information, such as sites, churches, and honeymoon locations.

Back at Lily, Rose, and Mary's house, things were somehow much calmer. They all sat down at the dining table while Peter insisted on cooking brunch. Apparently, he had discovered he had a culinary gift while he was away.

"Right," sighed Rose, looking around the table. "Let's go through this again. Lily and Mary are my maids of honor. I don't need any other bridesmaids. David –" She looked at him. "Who do you want for best man, Remus or James?"

David pointed at Remus. "That goes along with being godfather of all our future children."

Rose gave a hysterical little giggle.

Remus, however, appeared slightly less amused. Quietly, he asked, "Are you sure about that, David?"

"God damn it, Moony," David sad exasperatedly, letting his head fall back to stare at the ceiling. "I swear you are the most insecure –"

"I think that means yes, he's sure," Mary interrupted, grinning.

Remus raised his hands, palms out, in defense. "I just want to ask – I'm not doubting you, I'm only thinking ahead – your children are going to be different people, they may not be happy with a werewolf as their godfather –"

"Yes, Remus, of course they won't," said David, with heavy sarcasm, "since Rose and I are going to hand our children over the moment they're born to be raised by the most bigoted idiots we can find."

Remus actually laughed. "All right then, I'll shut up now."

"Next," said Rose loudly, "what do you want the rest of the Marauders to do, David?"

"Well – James can be ring bearer, and then Sirius and Peter can be, what do you call them, men of honor or something. Good?"

The boys gave various signs of agreement.

"Right," said Rose happily, as Peter came in, set a platter of sandwiches in the center of the table, and sat down. "And your dad already said he would walk me down the aisle. Now – name a date, David."

David considered as he munched a sandwich. "Tomorrow?"

"A _realistic_ date."

"What's realistic?"

"Something past two weeks from now," Lily said quickly, before Rose could reply.

David looked put out. "Aw, that long?"

_"Yes."_

He chewed meditatively and reached for another sandwich. "Say…January eighteenth?"

Mary jumped up to go look at the calendar on the wall. "That's – a Sunday! Perfect! I can come Friday night so I can be around the day before." She bounded back to the table, looking as excited now as Rose did. "God, this is going to be fun!"

Peter leaned forward on the table, smiling. "I hate to ruin your mood, but you're forgetting someone."

"Who?" Rose asked, puzzled.

"Your _other_ sister. Petunia."

The consternation must have showed clearly on their faces, for Sirius laughed aloud. "Oh, the looks you got when he said that…"

"Well – we didn't really _forget_ about her – we just…" Rose looked helplessly at Lily, then sighed. "We better go find her…I'll ask if she wants to be my bridesmaid."

Lily, Rose, and Mary went back to the Potters to find if Petunia had left an address when she moved out. Natalie said she had indeed, but when they apparated to it, they found only a flat with a landlord's padlock on the door. After a moment's consideration, they went to the landlord's office and asked if the last occupants of flat number ninety-two had left an address for any mail sent there. After Lily showed an ID proving she was Petunia's sister, he gave them the address left:

Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Dursley  
Number 4 Privet Drive  
Little Whining, Surrey

To any Muggle gazing down Privet Drive at the time, there was a sudden crick in his neck, causing his head to turn, and when he straightened it there were three young women, all dressed in shapeless black cloaks, walking down the sidewalk.

"This is _exactly_ where I imagined Petunia living someday," said Mary, staring at the row of identical houses.

"This is number four, Mary," said Lily, pulling her arm gently to turn her up the driveway, which, like all the other driveways on the street, was perfectly cleared of snow.

The door opened soon after they rang the doorbell, and they were face-to-face with their oldest sister – Petunia Maryann.

Her expression was pure shock. She had grown up quite a bit since they had last seen her – Lily spotted the plain but quite sold-looking gold ring on her left hand, which rested on the door.

Mary crossed her arms. "Mrs. Vernon Dursley, I presume?" she drawled.

Petunia recovered, and tried to shut the door in their faces. She wasn't fast enough for Mary, however, who side-stepped Rose and stuck her booted foot in the door. "Oh, no you don't."

"Petunia –" Lily leaned forward, so she could see her face. "Please, Petunia – we just want a moment. That's all. Just a moment to talk."

Petunia hesitated, then allowed Mary to open the door, and she, Lily, and Rose came into the entranceway. Petunia folded her arms and pursed her lips.

"You have five minutes," she snapped.

Dismayed at Petunia's utterly cold attitude, Lily glanced toward Rose, who seemed taken aback as well. Rose faltered a little, twisting her engagement ring as she seemed to search for the words.

"I – do you remember David Potter, Petunia?" Rose asked finally.

Petunia gave a stiff nod.

"Well, he – proposed to me last night, and – we're getting married January eighteenth. And – I wanted to ask you if you'd like to be my bridesmaid at the wedding."

"No, thank you."

_We might as well be door-to-door salesmen,_ Lily thought, now feeling a trace of anger.

Rose, however, did not seem to be having the same reaction. She kept twisting her ring, eyes cast down. "Well then – if you don't want to actually participate in the ceremony, maybe you could just – come and –"

"No."

Lily couldn't help but feel stung – though clearly not as much as Rose, who looked like she might cry. Lily looked back at the blonde who, she realized now, matched Rose's height almost perfectly – they had grown up together, played together, shared a bed….

"Petunia," Lily blurted out, "we're sisters!"

Petunia looked disgusted. "How? By what ties?"

"Try _blood _–" Lily began, but she was cut off.

"Rubbish," spat Petunia, and with the venom in her tone it might as well have been Sirius's less pretty version. There were definitely tears in Rose's half-closed eyes now.

Mary looked as though she was about to hex Petunia. Instead of going for her wand, however, she only said softly, with feeling, "Bitch."

High spots of color rose in Petunia's cheeks. "Get out."

Mary jerked the door open herself, and Lily and Rose followed her out. Before she stepped out, however, Lily turned and said quietly, "Goodbye, Petunia. I hope you're happier in this world – in this life."

They were barely out of the driveway when Rose started to cry. Lily and Mary both hugged and tried to comfort her, but decided David would be the best person to cheer her up at the time, so they apparated directly home and turned her over to him.

Lily had hardly stepped out of Rose's room when a voice said over her shoulder, "Do you have a spare moment?"

She turned sharply to see James, looking inquisitive. "Oh, sure – why?"

"Well, we haven't really had a chance to be alone since we got back –"

Seeing his point at once, Lily took him by the hand and led him into her own room.

Several minutes later, she pulled back for air and announced, "I missed you very much."

"I missed you terribly," he returned. "I was radioactive with despair."

Laughing, she buried her face in his neck. "Merlin, I did miss you."

After several comfortable minutes more, he shifted slightly and said, "It's difficult, isn't it?"

Lily looked up at him with some surprise. "What is?"

"Having Rose and David get married like this, so far ahead of us. Everyone's going to look at us and expect us to follow them fairly soon."

She stared at him, amazed at his insight. "Yes – that's exactly what I was thinking."

Mary, unfortunately, had to leave to go back to Hogwarts. She seemed reluctant, though not as reluctant as Lily thought she might be.

The days settled down into a strange, hectic routine. Every hour they were off work, Lily and Rose worked out the details. Natalie gave them several more wedding robe catalogues. They would often stay up nights in Lily's bedroom, perusing them and discussing possibilities. Natalie insisted that she was the bride's family, so Rose enjoyed not having to worry about a budget.

The boys – particularly David and James – were practically living at their house, lounging about while Lily and Rose were at work. The girls teased them about not having a job while they, Lily and Rose, did. Rather stung, James began making inquiries into some of the national Quidditch teams. Sirius and Peter were unperturbed – the latter felt his services as chef paid back his eating a share of the food. Remus never heard a word of the teasing. David began to have mysterious absences, and finally one night during dinner he revealed what he had been doing.

"I've been looking at houses."

Rose's fork clattered on her plate. Everyone looked at her. She was staring at David, looking incredulous.

"A – house? For who?"

David looked a little bit worried. "Er – us?"

Rose laughed and pushed herself away from the table. "Oh, no. I don't think so. If I have to move out of this house to marry you, then forget it. I won't marry you."

David started to choke.

"Oh, come on Rose, you don't mean that," said Sirius.

"Well, I'm certainly not leaving this house," she said stubbornly. David banged his fist on the table now, his face turning red.

Remus pounded him on the back. "Have some mercy, Rose, you're going to kill him."

But at that moment David managed to clear his throat; he drew a deep, shuddering breath, turned to Rose, and said, "Please don't ever do that to me again."

An unwilling smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. David took a drink and continued, "Right. We'll live here, then. Not a problem."

With everything going on, Mary's eighteenth birthday was almost forgotten. Just in time, her sisters recalled it and sent her a small moneybag of Galleons, enchanted against theft.

Twelve days before the wedding, Lily got home early from work. She finished addressing the invitations they had begun last night. There weren't many – only to old school friends and coworkers. Feeling a little stressed, she decided to go outside for a little walk. It had turned surprisingly warm, so Lily bundled up only a little, with boots to walk through the mushy snow. She had hardly stepped out off the porch, however, when Sirius bounded out of the side door and down the steps.

"Mind if I join you?"

She gave him an odd look, but nodded coolly. They set off around the garden, past the big oak.

"So has Rose settled on a set of wedding robes yet?"

"We've narrowed it down."

"What about yours and Mary's?"

"Yes, Natalie's ordered them."

"What color are they?"

"Lavender." It had been difficult to find a color that suited both her and Mary's coloring.

Sirius was too clever to play with the chit-chat any longer. "Lil, I've actually been wanting to talk to you since we got back."

_Back to Lil, are we?_ She couldn't recall him saying any variant of her name at all since the terrible argument they had had back in April at Hogwarts.

"Yeah. You see, while I was on the mainland – seeing all the churches and structures that've been around for, oh, about forever, and you realize how trivial your own grudges and feuds are."

Lily gave him a disbelieving look.

"Yeah, you're right, that's all rubbish. But seriously now – Rose and David are finally getting married. What a shock, I'm sure none of us saw that coming. And, to be blunt, sooner or later you and James are going to do the same. And you'll make lots of little Jameses and Davids and Roses and Lilys that'll turn all of us into old wizards and witches. Enter life ever after." Sirius stopped and turned to face her. "The point is, Lily, that carrying a grudge through all of this is going to get tiresome. So – for James, Rose, and all of the others' sakes – let's leave what happened at Hogwarts at Hogwarts, all right?"

Lily studied him. He looked serious enough. "I understand what you're saying," she said slowly, and thought about it some more. "All right. I can agree to put everything that happened at school behind us, for the future. To sort of pick up where we left off in fourth year, or whenever it was. But…I can't entirely forgive you. Not for the prank. And not just because of –" It had been so long since she had said his name. She enunciated each syllable slowly, "Severus, but mostly because of Remus. He would have killed himself if it had worked – you know that, don't you?"

He looked away, scuffed at the snow on the ground, and made other seemingly distressed, impatient movements. Lily understood she was looking at a Sirius who felt guilty.

"It didn't happen," he said finally. "So we don't know."

Lily sighed, recognizing that Sirius could not admit it and she could no longer argue about it. "No, it didn't."

Sirius looked back in her face. "So that's it, then? We have a truce?"

She nodded. "A little more than a truce, yes."

He grinned and slapped her on the back as they turned to go back inside. "Good. I'll let you get back to coordinating shoes with flowers."

In the next couple of days, Lily and Rose managed to settle the biggest issues that had still been unsolved, which was good since the only reason the invitations had still not been sent was because a site for the wedding had not yet been defined. But now, after a final talk with their soon-to-be mother-in-law, they agreed the ceremony would take place in the back lawn of the sisters' own house, under the small garden trellis in the morning. As soon as the boys were notified of this, they began work on it, clearing the dirt and wild plants that had grown around it.

Lily also put it to Rose one night and forced her to choose one of the three candidate wedding dresses. They also chose what the boys would wear, and turned it all in to Natalie. Rose's florists would be doing the flowers, of course, for a discounted price. Lily owled Albus Dumbledore with an invitation and a polite request for Mary to be able to leave for the weekend of the wedding.

Nine days to go, and Rose began to panic. Before, things had been too busy and rushed to think and worry, but now she had opportunity to, and did not miss it. She had been spending a fair amount of nights in her own room with David, but now with exactly one week left before the wedding, she moved to Lily's room. They slept together in the same bed as they had done when they were small.

The first night Rose sat up sharply in bed, waking Lily, who cracked her eyes open to see her looking distraught and begin, "Oh, I had this awful dream that the day I was supposed to get married – "

_"No."_ Lily pulled her hand out from under the blankets and clapped it over Rose's mouth. "Don't say it. Don't. Now lay down, and I'll tell you how it's going to go."

So Rose laid back, Lily sighed, closed her eyes, and told Rose in detail how the wedding would go, including how Mary would at the earliest opportunity surreptiously slip off the shoes Lily had made sure would come on and off easily, how Sirius would crack jokes at the most inappropriate moments, and how she, being Rose, and David would both cry.

"Now, do you feel better?"

Rose smiled. "Yes. Thank you."

"You're very welcome. Natalie told me that would work."

But another night, what woke her up was a little more serious.

"Lily."

"Oh, Merlin. Rose, if you do not get some sleep you will end up looking ghastly at the wedding and – oh no, Rose, please don't cry. I didn't mean it, it's impossible for you to look ghastly. I'll be the one looking ghastly but that won't matter because all the focus will be on you, and well, what is it?"

"Lily –" Rose had to stop and swallow, because she was indeed about to cry. "Lily, I know it's sily, but I just can't help it –"

"Hush, it's all right." Lily pulled her arms out and wrapped one around her back and brushed Rose's hair off her face with the other. "What is it?"

Rose swallowed again and blinked rapidly to keep the tears back. "I don't know if I'm ready. I don't feel ready. I'm just eighteen, that's how old nearly everyone was in our last year at Hogwarts. And I'm getting married…I just feel scared."

Lily sighed and continued to run her fingertips down the side of Rose's face, though it was now clear of any loose strands of hair. "Really, Rose," she said at last, "if you, who have the most unbelievably perfect relationship that has ever existed in this world – if you are having so much trouble about getting married, I can hardly imagine what hope there is for the rest of us." As Rose started to protest, Lily interrupted her again. "No, just listen to me for a minute.

"Darling, I think you're taking this out of proportion. Yes, really. It's not going to be as scary as you think. Not that much is going to change. Sunday morning we're going to get all dressed up so you and David can tell each other how much you love each other in front of a bunch of friends – then there will be a pretty lunch inside, and then you and David will go off someplace or another for a couple of weeks – has he told you where yet?" Rose shook her head. The honeymoon had been the one aspect that David had wanted to arrange himself, and so far he had kept it an infuriating secret. "Well, whenever you get back from wherever, you'll come right back here and live in the same room you have now – except I think David will object to you staying in my room so much." Rose giggled. "And then whenever you sign your name, it'll be Rose Potter, which is not a bad-sounding name at all, you know. And when some wizard starts flirting with you, you can flash your ring and say, 'Sorry, I'm married.' But wait, that's essentially what you've been saying for the past four years anyway, isn't it?"

Rose laughed aloud. "Oh, what would I do without you, Lily?"

Lily smiled lightly but did not answer.

* * *

The last week before the wedding passed alarmingly fast. Natalie suddenly realized how close she was to losing one of her sons, and while she could hardly pull David away from Rose or Rose's house now, she did insist that James and the others at least return to the Potter house to sleep every night. Rose and Lily continued to go to work every day, seeing no point in staying home just to sit and worry over what was already settled. 

An owl had come announcing that Mary would floo over from a specially-arranged Hogwarts fire Friday night. So all five boys, Lily, and Rose sat up talking after dinner at the dinner table, waiting for her arrival. At eight-thirty, the flames in the fireplace in the living room began to crackle and glow green. Quickly they all got up to stand before the fireplace as a spinning form began to take shape, and then Mary stumbled out, shaking her head.

Lily and Rose hugged her first. She greeted the boys in turn, and then took a step back to take in the room's new appearance. White decorations, such as bags of ever-falling confetti and strands of fake vines with small white blossoms to drape over the banister railings up the stairs, and more to display in the balconies, were collected in corners and stray tables all across the room.

"We're in charge of the furnishings," James told her.

"Of course," said Mary. "Waiting for the very last day to put it all up."

"What good does it do up any earlier?" Sirius demanded.

"Point," Mary allowed.

Lily took her by the arm. "That's enough, she has to come upstairs and see our dresses now."

"Oh, the ones you won't show us?" David shouted after them.

Natalie had only delivered them a few days ago. Fortunately, all the measurements were correct, so nothing needed to be altered. Rose held up the wedding robes to herself to show Mary, who grinned in true appreciation.

"That's – that's perfect for you. Perfect color, perfect shape…"

Rose giggled. She had been giggling a lot lately. "I know, I love it." She twirled in front of Lily's mirror.

Lily took her own and Mary's maid-of-honor dress robes out of the closet. "And these are ours."

Mary's mouth fell open slightly in an expression that was not of pleasure as she took hers. _"Lavender?"_

"Name another color that suits both you and me," Lily said tersely.

"Lavender doesn't suit me!"

"It suits you better than pale green or yellow – I can't wear pink or light blue –"

"Lavender!" howled Mary.

"You would be upset no matter what color it is, as long as it's a dress," Rose observed, still feeling rather smug about her wedding dress.

"Lavender isn't my favorite color either, Mary," Lily snapped, hanging both the dresses back up. "But that doesn't matter, because Rose is the one who's supposed to be stunning. Our whole purpose Sunday is so that people look from Rose, to us, back to Rose, and think, 'Wow, she really is beautiful.'"

Rose giggled again. Mary seemed to consider and accept the point, and so continued to sulk marginally less, sitting down on the end of Lily's bed. "Who's all going to be there now, anyway?"

Sitting down next to Mary, Lily shrugged. "Not that many, really. Our old dorm mates at Hogwarts, Alice and Nicole – a few people I know from my job in the Ministry, and some from Rose's florists. Then James and David's uncles, Nathan and Nigel – do you remember them, we met them a few Christmases ago – and Dumbledore said he would come too. Then David insisted on inviting Professor McGonagall, so she'll be there too."

Mary looked taken aback. "David wanted to invite McGonagall?"

"Yeah," said Rose, grinning. "Some bit of weird logic about how she's given him so many detentions, she ought to see him married."

Mary shook her head and there was silence while Rose fingered the edge of her dress before the mirror and reluctantly hung it back up. Then Mary asked in a would-be careless tone that Lily knew she had learned from Sirius, "I don't suppose you considered for a second inviting Severus, did you?"

Lily and Rose glanced at each other before the latter answered. "For a second, yes. Then we agreed no, and didn't need to think about it again."

Mary propped her foot up on a footstool, laced her fingers over her knee, rested her chin on top, and inquired, "For which reason, exactly?"

"The one about it being David's wedding, too," Rose said.

Mary nodded and turned to Lily. "Hypothetically speaking, of course – were you and James to marry, would it be the same case?"

Apart from the question, Lily felt a touch of annoyance at the suggestion of her and James's hypothetical wedding, and paused a moment before replying. "Well, naturally."

Perhaps Mary noticed the pause, for her next question was more abrupt. "And how are you two doing now?"

"Well, it doesn't really matter how we're doing, does it, since we're going to be married one day," said Lily, more acidly than she intended.

Mary blinked. "Sorry."

"It's all right, it's not just you, every one else does it too." Lily looked at her hands in her lap.

"So is everything not all right?" asked Rose, who looked like she felt guilty for being so concerned with her own affairs she hadn't noticed her sister's.

Lily shrugged. "It's fine, just not as good as everyone assumes it is. And they all do, all the boys besides James himself, and even you two. It's rather stressful when everyone around you is waiting for you to announce the wedding date when you're nowhere near the point – especially when the last time you thought you had found who you were going to marry ended so terribly."

* * *

Natalie came over early the next day to supervise the final preparations. The boys really got to work, and the girls – sat back and watched. 

Everyone had lunch at the top floor of the house, which was where they also would be having dinner, as the entire downstairs floor was being prepared for the wedding guests and celebrations tomorrow.

"This is excellent, Peter – now, let's go through all of tomorrow again, step by step. Seven-thirty a.m., the bride and her maids of honor are to get up, which means that yes, both Rose and David will take Sleeping Draughts early tonight. I'll arrive shortly after, and will come back to make sure all five of you are up by eight. Then I will assist the girls with their hair and nail charms and the small glamour charms, though of course none of you need them. By nine, all of us except the bride should be downstairs, ready to welcome the guests, who should arrive around nine-thirty. Lily or Mary may stay with Rose to ensure she doesn't faint or attempt to escape through the window, or to apply the necessary anti-Apparation jinxes. Not that she doesn't want to get married," Natalie added to David, "it's just what brides do naturally, wanting to get away right before the ceremony and savor the last hour of freedom."

"Anyway, my husband should be there by then. At ten, we'll invite all the guests outside and to take a seat. David, Remus, Sirius, Peter, and James will take their places – Lily and Mary will escort Rose down the stairs, Joseph will meet her and lead her out to David. The priest will step up, there will be talking and kissing, David will carry Rose back into her own house – Rose will pause to throw the bouquet – and everyone will follow them in to have lunch and cake and presents. As soon as that is all over, at an undetermined time, Rose and David will leave to get their bags and grab their portkey, and then the wedding party will gradually disperse. Any questions?"

David raised his hands. "Bags? You mentioned something about bags?"

His mother looked at him. "Bags for the honeymoon. The bags you've been packing for the past few days…or perhaps not. Oh, dear."

"Actually," said Rose, with a nervous laugh, "those bags slipped my mind too."

Natalie sighed. "Well, go on and do it now. David, you're going to have to give her some hint of your destination so she'll know what type of clothes to bring."

The group got to their feet, David, Rose, and Lily to the bedrooms to pack, and the rest to carry the plates back downstairs and to recommence cleaning, until the doorbell rang and Natalie discovered the flowers had arrived.

Dusk had begun to settle when the late packing was finished and all of the decorative flowers had been charmed into place. Natalie insisted every single boy disapparate to her house before she herself left, and Lily knew she would make sure they weren't able to apparate back until morning.

With the house alone to the three sisters as it had not been since far back into the summer, they went to Rose's room for the night, settling into her bed dressed in comfortable Muggle shorts and undershirts, with many pillows, though not planning to go to sleep for a while.

"One minute –" Mary rummaged in the small bag she had brought with her from school. "I told my friends that my sister was getting married this weekend, and of course they all remember you – they pitched in and gave me this." She produced a bottle of champagne, earning laughter and applause from Lily and Rose.

"Where did they get this?" Lily asked, taking it and inspecting the label.

"There's a store in Hogsmeade, out of the way."

Lily scrambled off the bed with the bottle. "I'll be right back in a minute." She disappeared out the door, and returned shortly carrying three wine glasses and the bottle with the cork removed, and even through the tinted glass they could see a third of the champagne was gone.

"What, did you drink all of that just now?" said Mary indignantly as Lily climbed back onto the bed carefully, unable to use her hands.

"No, I just poured some out into another container," Lily said, passing a glass to Rose. "Rose hasn't had much experience drinking –"

"Neither have you!" exclaimed Rose.

"–And I don't think it's a good idea for her to get drunk and then feel ill all tomorrow."

"That bottle's for all three of us," Mary pointed out.

"Still," Lily insisted, "Rose is so thin –"

"We're all thin," said Rose.

"But Lily has to play the protective older sister," said Mary without rancor, holding out her glass to be filled.

"Of course I do. Haven't I always?" Lily filled Mary's glass, then Rose's.

Rose took a careful sip. "Always."

"There you go, keep drinking it slowly," Lily said, eyeing her.

"I repeat what Rose said," said Mary, "when did _you_ get experience drinking?"

Lily gave her a look. "While you were away the past few weeks attending to your studies, James and the others brought out for dinner some nights a few bottles of wine they picked up in Europe."

"Well, I was there too every night," said Rose.

"But you hardly ever drank."

The level of champagne in the bottle lowered steadily and the girls became…happy. Mary took charge of the bottle, as she proved to retain the most control. However, the next morning, when they woke up, none could recall the exact hour they had fallen asleep – the empty bottle was the only piece of evidence.

It was Rose who woke up first, before Natalie arrived, which was both understandable and not understandable. Her eyes snapped open, and she felt like someone had jolted her. But the room was empty, and Lily and Mary were sound asleep on either side of her.

Rose sat up slowly, her head feeling very thick. Something was happening today. Something good. Something happy. She didn't try to probe her brain to think of it, enjoying the feeling of a happy mystery, much like she had loved Christmas presents under the tree much more than after they were unwrapped. Then, through the ajar closet door, she caught sight of something white.

_Oh._

A small, compressed smile stole onto Rose's face; she glanced at the clock, which read five minutes past seven. Natalie would be here soon, and it would be better if her sisters were already up.

The task was difficult, but Lily and Mary were soon pushed into the bathroom for reviving showers. Mary finished first, and was sitting in a chair, wrapped in a towel, when there was a knock on the door. Mary called out, and Natalie came in. She seemed surprised to see Mary up and to hear the shower running.

"I didn't think you'd already be up."

"Rose made us," Mary told her, a little grumpily.

Natalie went to the closet and took out Mary's lavender dress. "Well, come and put this on, and I'll get started on your hair…"

Natalie's schedule went surprisingly just as she planned. They had over an hour to leisurely get dressed and for Natalie to fix them up, then they heard male voices downstairs, which they immediately concluded to be the boys and Joseph Potter's. Natalie went out alone to see them and make sure they weren't disrupting the decorations, and a little while later came back to announce the guests were arriving. Mary and Lily decided to take turns going downstairs to see everyone, Mary leaving first.

Shortly after Mary quit the room, Lily gasped out loud. "I _almost_ forgot!"

Rose, who was quite understandably on tenterhooks at this point, jumped and stared anxiously at her. "What? What is it?"

Lily hurried to the closet, bending down to something on the floor, and reappeared with a large shoebox. "I even brought it in here a couple of days – I meant to show you last night."

"What?"

Rose moved to lean over as Lily set the box on the end of the bed and took the lid off. Pushing aside some loose tissue paper, she lifted out a mahogany jewelry box. She opened this so Rose couldn't see its contents, but drew out a necklace with both hands, fingers spread so all sixteen diamonds were visible, and smile. "Remember this?"

Staring at it, Rose sat down. "That's – wasn't that Anetka's?"

Lily nodded. "She sent it to me for my sixteenth birthday, don't you remember? And we told the boys how it was Nicki's wedding present to her, and they asked how they could give it to just one of their four daughters – but I said that I'd loan it to you on your wedding day."

"I remember now! I had forgotten." Rose laughed in amazement, looking at the necklace which sparkled just as much as it had when first bought. "I'm sure Natalie won't mind," she said as she reached for the clasp of the strand of pearls that Natalie had given her as a wedding gift to match the special circlet of larger pearls that wove into her hair and dropped a small, golden piece onto the center of her forehead.

"Oh, no." Lily went around to carefully push aside the part of Rose's hair that curled down to fasten the rather complicated clasp. Lily and Mary's hair had been gathered entirely onto their heads in curls. It made them both look more adult and prettier, though this effect rather unnerved Mary. Rose turned the jewelry box around to face her and replaced her earrings with the ones that matched the necklace, and Lily helped her fit the bracelet around her wrist.

Lily put the jewelry box and shoebox away, and Rose grew silent again as they waited. Lily stood by the window, watching those arriving and milling around the garden, while Rose fidgeted, staying away from the windows, pacing a little, always returning to the vanity mirror to make sure everything was in place.

Lily finally turned to her. "Are you doing all right, Rose?"

Rose stopped moving and shrugged slightly. "Yes – I'm just a tad nervous again. I thought I was over that."

Just then, the door opened and Mary came in. "Your turn, Lily. All your friends from your Ministry job are here and looking for you."

Lily stood, gave Rose a reassuring smile and went downstairs.

In Rose's room, Mary shook her shoes off with a sigh and went to stand at the window, unknowingly where Lily had just been.

"Mary."

Mary turned to see Rose standing at the vanity, bent slightly and gripping the glass edge of the counter. "What's wrong?"

Rose shook her head, staring down. When she spoke, her voice was unsteady. "I – I don't think I can do this."

Mary walked rapidly to her side and laid a hand on Rose's back. "Well, let's hear the reason for the pre-wedding crisis…."

Rose sounded as though she was having difficulty breathing. "He doesn't deserve this, Mary – how can I do this to him?"

"Because," said Mary, in a low but fierce voice, "you knew what you were promising back in Dumbledore's office. You knew you could do it."

Rose shook her head again. "No, I can't. In just a few minutes I'm going to have to stand there, look into his eyes and see him smile –"

Mary took her by the shoulders as she looked her in the face. "You can and you will," she said, her voice steel, "because you have _nothing_ to be ashamed of. All you did was sacrifice the ultimate for your sister –" _your peace of mind for hers_ "- and Lily shouldn't have let you do that, but she did." A slightly sardonic smile crossed her face. "She's too used to accepting everything she needs on a silver platter."

Rose expelled her breath, blinking and shaking her head as though to push back her fear. "But – how can I pretend when I'm pregnant, and when –"

Mary put her finger over Rose's lips. "One day at a time, Rose. And today, you're only marrying the man you love."

* * *

Lily, Mary, and Natalie collapsed onto the living room couch and sighed almost in unison. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were already down – stretched out in chairs or lying on the rug. 

"It was a very nice wedding," said Natalie contentedly.

Lily nodded, too tired to respond more. Her eyes traveled over all the white decorations and she wondered when they would absolutely have to take them down. Perhaps she could make the boys do it. Though that didn't seem likely, since all four of them seemed to be, without exception, perfectly unconscious.

"I was glad to see Dumbledore there," Natalie continued. "It's been a while since I saw him."

Lily couldn't gather the energy to answer, but the comment did push her thoughts in another direction. After all the ceremonies – David had just carried Rose into her house – Dumbledore had quietly taken Rose back outside. They had been gone for some time, though fortunately few seemed to notice. Lily had caught glimpses of them standing under the shade of the tree, talking. When Rose came back in, she had seemed perturbed – certainly there was a damper to her previously giddy state – but when Lily asked Rose only shook her head and said there were things to talk about later on – not today.

Lily had a pretty good idea what it was about.

But Rose and David had disapparated with their trunks, the guests had cleared out, Lily and Mary had changed out of their dresses, taken their hair down, and come back downstairs to find the boys drifting off and Natalie pushing the remains of the cake into the fridge.

Many of the flowers that had been wound around the banister had come loose and fallen to the floor, Lily noted. Perhaps some of them were from those outside as well. The effect was not at all objectionable, and Lily was loathe to clean them up later on. But they made her think of Rose's wedding bouquet (which had been made up of white lilies; Rose had insisted). She had stood on the porch to throw it over her shoulder to the cluster of girls on the grass below. Lily had found herself pushed along with hem, though she had seen Mary standing smugly by the back side of the house, shoeless. Lily had reached her hand up with all the others, but had not tried any harder than that – and the bouquet had sailed quite clear of her to the left, to be snatched by Alice LaVonne.

Natalie sighed again and got to her feet. "I'm as tired as you are – I think I'll go home. Feel free to call if you need help with anything."

"We will." Lily yawned as Mary, without opening her eyes, stretched out into the space Natalie left. "Thanks again for everything."

"Thank _you_ for letting me." Natalie stepped over Remus, bent near the chair James was in, and kissed him very gently on the temple before turning back to the couch. "It was good to see you, Mary. Be sure to owl me from Hogwarts again before you finish."

Mary raised her hand in a small wave before letting it flop down again. Natalie disapparated.

Lily slid down next to Mary and, in the beautiful quiet, fell asleep herself.


	26. Part Three of Book Nine

**Author notes:** …No excuses. It _was_ my senior year of high school, I was kept hectic all year long by doing private scholarships, trying to raise money for college, but y'know, if I had really wanted and tried to, I could have written and updated this more. ...At least once. So I apologise to all of you who read this story and liked it and cared and despaired in the last…year. As I recently told one incredibly loyal reader, **pandabears05**, thank you: neither me nor this story deserves such readers and dedication.

And, again: not for one _second_ over the past year was this story actually abandoned, nor did I ever consider it. I will be working to finish it in college and in whatever other kind of situation I might be in, even if I don't have any readers left – I will finish it just for myself, because this story – Rose and Mary – meant so much to me for so long, and still does, at some level.

* * *

She was awoken by someone gently shaking her shoulder. "Lily. Lily." 

Opening her eyes, she was surprised to see it was dusk outside. "I slept a while, didn't I?"

"You did," said Mary, smiling. It was she who had woken her. "But I have to go now."

"Oh…go where?"

"Back to _school_. To finish the term. I promised Dumbledore I'd be back around dinner time."

Lily noticed the bag beside her. "But – you can't go!" she cried, grabbing at Mary's arm. "I'll be all alone!"

"Nonsense, you have the boys." Mary waved her hand behind her vaguely. "Rose will be home in a few weeks."

Lily clung to Mary's arm. "I don't want to be alone!"

"I have to go, Lily." Mary worked at prying Lily's fingers off. "Come on now, Lily. You'll have James with you. And it'll be good for you – trust me, I know."

The front door opened and James, closely followed by Remus, came in. "Leaving, Mary?" James asked.

"Yes." Mary succeeded in getting her arm loose, and leaned over to kiss Lily on the temple. "Are the others gone?"

"That they are."

Standing, Mary slung her bag over her shoulders and hugged them both. "See you in June." She turned to wave again to Lily, and Lily returned it halfheartedly. Mary walked around the sofa to the fireplace, and Lily listened as Mary took down the powder, started the fire, and called her destination. With a whoosh, she was gone.

James came and sat on the edge of the couch by her head. He held a lily in his hands, she noticed, and now he tucked it behind her ear, pushing her hair back and winding a strand of it around the stem.

"I found a pretty lily," he said lightly.

A smile broke across her face in appreciation. She looked up at his face, her hands tucked under her cheek. He traced the outline of her cheekbone and jaw with his finger.

She glanced suddenly at Remus, who stood in the center of the room before them. For a moment, she caught an odd expression on his face – but she hardly had registered it before it disappeared, replaced by his easygoing smile. She smiled back and asked,

"Do you want to stay here tonight, Remus?"

"Oh –" He frowned, considering. "Peter finally got a flat, we're still looking for a second one for James and Sirius to share. Until then, we were planning to crash together."

Despite her nap, Lily yawned. "Stay here, Remus. I still don't want to be alone." She looked back up at James. "You stay too."

James looked at Remus and shrugged. "All right. I'll – no, I don't want to waste your Floo Powder – I'll just apparate over for a minute and let them know Lily's favorites got a special invitation."

"Good. Tell them it's nothing personal…"

Both of them snorted in response, and James said, "It's okay, Lily, we all know you love us best, and you have for years." He disapparated before she could answer, and Lily sat up to face Remus.

"So…" He touched the couch with the tip of his shoe. "Does James get your sofa, and me the other one?"

"Oh – no." Lily stood up, raising a hand to secure the flower behind her ear. "I probably shouldn't lend out Rose's room, since it'll be hers and David's when they get back – but one of you can use Mary's, and, let's see…." She began climbing up the stairs, Remus following.

On the second floor were a total of four rooms, three of them made into bedrooms. The fourth was used as a sort of storage room for everything they had saved from being sold from their old home, which really wasn't that much. It held shelves of all their books and a multitude of framed pictures. On one side, gently out of the way, was Anetka's old keyboard piano on which Lily and Petunia had played. It had a long, nicely embroidered cloth cover over the keys.

Lily and Remus came into this room now, he rather curiously, as it had not been fully set up when he had been given the first grand tour, and it was rare that they ever needed to enter here. He looked round at the many photos, which were of all four sisters, taken equally over all their years. A good third were of the boys, sometimes with the girls, sometimes not. Many were set at Hogwarts, but others were not. Remus stopped to stare at one of himself and the other Marauders in the Quidditch pitch, James, David, and Sirius sweaty and dirty in their Quidditch cords, arms over each others shoulders. It had to have been their second year.

"Here."

Remus turned to see Lily nudging with her knee a futon on the wall opposite the keyboard.

"Will this be all right?" she asked. "There are plenty of books, you can read whatever you like. I'll get more sheets and blankets from the closet…."

"It's great, Lily." He looked around again. There was only one small, semi-circular window, high up, that wouldn't afford much light, so there was also a tasseled lamp at one end of the futon. "The full moon is in five days," he said, rather abruptly.

"Ah. How are the Ministry facilities?"

He sighed. "I liked the Shrieking Shack better."

"Ouch." Lily crossed her arms.

"Yeah – the first time I went, the rest of the Marauders went with me, and they weren't happy. It's just rows of small, white, empty rooms that they lock you up in until morning. Then there's no complimentary breakfast." He grinned crookedly.

Even in the dim light, the sympathy was clear in her face, but she did not ask any more about it. "And how goes the job search?"

He shook his head. "David's dad is trying to help – he's helping all of us – but it's not working out. It's pretty certain that I won't be hired to do anything that involves working with customers."

"_I_ would hire you," said Lily firmly.

"Thanks, Lily."

She moved to look at a picture on the wall, of all eight of them in the Gryffindor common room. "It's not fair," she said, very quietly, though Remus heard it anyway. Turning back to him, she continued, "You can live here as long as you want, you know. It's no problem, Rose and I make enough together now so that –"

"Thanks, but the flat Peter just got is meant for both of us."

"Oh." Lily deflated slightly.

"He was just interviewed for a job drawing architectural blueprints," Remus added. "If he gets it – and he should – he'll be making a fair bit."

"That's good. I guess he has experience, doesn't he, with your map – well, anyway, the offer still stands. If you ever need somewhere to stay, or – until you find something, you can stay here during the day, instead of an empty flat. Work on the garden for Mary, she'll love you."

Remus smiled again. "I appreciate it, Lily."

"It's nothing. I mean, after my sisters – you're my best friend." She laid a hand on his shoulder.

He wasn't sure why, but in some way this surprised him. "Really?"

"Of course. Who else?"

Before they could continue, James's voice rang out from somewhere below. "Hey, where'd you guys go?"

Lily hurried out into the hallway. "Up here, James!"

James soon appeared, hauling two knapsacks. "I had to throw some of our stuff together," he said by way of explanation, and deposited one of the bags in Remus' arms.

"All right – come here, James, I'm designating you Mary's room. It's pretty clean, Mary hasn't had enough time to really make it hers yet. Remus is getting the other non-bedroom room, the one with a futon. Now, tomorrow, or soon, I need you two to help me switch out all the stuff in Rose's and my rooms. When we first moved back in, they somehow arranged it so I got the biggest room, but now Rose and David need it, so I want all of her things in it by the time they get back –"

"All right, all right Lily…."

* * *

The days did pass easily as Lily resumed her job. It became clear that just because the boys were getting their own place, they were not inclined to drop their habit of eating at Lily's house. She could understand this: her kitchen and dining room was about the size of their entire flat, and Peter was loath to give up her array of cooking utensils. And it was all right – she loved their company, it helped her miss Rose less – but she made it clear to them the first night that they must bring their own food – she wasn't working to feed four men. 

By the end of the first week after the wedding, however, a second flat had been paid for, and Sirius and James moved into it in short order, leaving Remus to rejoin Peter in the first flat. So for the first time Lily went to bed at night truly alone.

All the boys save David, of course, continued to drop in whenever she was home, staying after dinner was over to keep her company. James was there most frequently, especially on the weekends. Lily got the feeling that Remus was holding back so that she spent more time with James.

She did enjoy his company in the empty house, when no one else was there. She felt less burdened – no expectations, no one watching them hopefully. They were free to act exactly as they liked and as they should. It was also an opportunity for Lily to realize exactly what she felt for James.

James was nice. This she knew with absolute certainty; it was her primary definition of him. It was more than his actions, it was his very character. It would take an exceptionally perverse girl to not appreciate him, and Lily was not nearly so perverse. He was also the type that made it so you didn't have to do anything to fall in love with him; you just had to sit back and let him show himself, and this is exactly what Lily was doing.

Then Rose and David came home.

Lily was overjoyed to have her back. She had found that she was missing Rose in small, startling ways – James would say something particularly sweet, and she would immediately think of telling Rose that night, only to realize belatedly, and with a rather bad shock, that Rose was away. That had never happened before.

They had been to Italy, it proved, as Rose unpacked one bag and showered Venetian lace all over the house, and then explained that a tea set made out of Murano glass would be arriving by owl in a couple days. She seemed torn between appreciation and indignation when she realized that Lily had switched their rooms, but neither of them could bring herself to be the slightest bit angry with the other.

All the boys joined them for dinner that night, which was a very loud, happy occasion.

"I miss Mary more than ever now," sighed Rose after they sat back, having finished off dessert.

Lily patted her hand from where she sat between Rose and James. "She'll be home in a couple months, then she'll never leave again."

"Yes…but tell me, how'd you do alone while I was gone?"

Peter said, before Lily could answer, "Oh, James was over here lots."

Somehow, the way he said it implied much more than what the words said, and instantly after he said it those barely perceptible smirks and knowing smiles flitted around the table. James squeezed Lily's hand bracingly under the table.

It was odd, at first, having David living with them all the time in their house. It felt odd to Lily at least; Rose was unquestionably too much in a constant state of blind, bubbling happiness to notice anything odd. But for Lily, realizing the sisters' privacy was now forever intruded upon, that she could never again sneak into Rose's room in the middle of the night and wake her up, as she had always been able to before, took some getting used to.

This change in living arrangements also proved something Lily and Rose had long held in theory: that the Marauders were as "joined at the hip" as they teased Lily and Rose of being. Before David moved in, the boys had come over for dinner quite often; now, though, they seemed to be forever popping in and out to tell David something, getting him to come see something "just for a minute, I swear."

James continued to come around when Lily was home only slightly less than he did when Rose and David were still honeymooning. Lily knew she was not encouraging him – to her, everything about their relationship seemed to have relapsed back to where they were before the wedding, with her acutely conscious of the unsaid expectations of everyone around, even though she knew they were trying not to show them. But she was made irritable and testy by it anyway, and James, unfortunately, took the brunt of it. The best solution, he quickly discovered, was to take her out, where it was only the two of them and strangers. However, this was inadvisable to do in excess for two reasons. Firstly, despite how marvelous life might be going in one's home, outside in the rest of the wizarding world, security issues were only worsening. (Lily was sometimes struck by the impression that she was living in a bubble containing her sisters and the boys.) Secondly, James was feeling that by now, they ought to be able to behave as a couple in front of their best friends. His restrained frustration and her edginess did not react well, and in the upcoming weeks they began to have petty arguments.

They all had a regular habit of visiting Natalie and Joseph Potter for a Sunday afternoon and dinner every two weeks, and then they might drop in individually or in other-sized groups betweentimes. Lily liked to visit Natalie whenever she had some spare time and Rose was busy with David; contrary to what anyone might expect, Natalie was not part of the great Lily-James conspiracy, or if she was, Lily couldn't tell.

There was another reason Lily liked to visit Natalie, and usually tried to get James to come with her: Natalie seemed uncharacteristically sad these days, almost depressed. She hid it well when they came to visit with her usual smiles and hugs, but when she laughed at the boys, it sounded just a shade forced, and sometimes when they were in a middle of a story so that all attention was on them, Lily would glance around and catch an unmistakably sad expression on Natalie's face, or at another moment when Lily would catch her alone. Lily discussed it with Rose, and they thought it might due to James and David, and perhaps even Lily and Rose too, moving out, or some worry about the current, awful state of fear and terror reigning in the wizarding world.

David finally landed a job in March in the Quidditch business – it was a rather low position as a second-assistant manager to the Falmouth Falcons team, but he quite expected to become manager within a year or two. James also placed a job at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, surveying rural land to keep magical fauna supervised and from interfering with Muggles. It was broom work, and therefore James was happy, at least temporarily.

As the days grew warmer and snow melted into rain, it seemed as though Lily and James's relationship should melt too into something much softer than the rocky state it was now, but it didn't seem to be doing anything of the sort. Lily spent her weekdays at her two jobs, one at the Muggle bakery and the other doing charmwork in the Department of Magical Transportation at the Ministry. James was there more often than not when she came home at night, but Lily pretended, obstinately, that he was there to see David. Then on weekends, when not with Natalie, she found ways to spend time with Remus. James was getting ticked.

Lily had a dim knowledge that it was going to come to a head, and probably an unpleasant one at that, but when it did, the manner of it caught her completely by surprise.

She and Rose took a weekday off from their jobs to do some much-needed chores that somehow weren't getting done on the weekends – namely, making sure a handful of garden gnomes that had actually dared to enter Mary's garden, would never be able to come back, as it wouldn't do to even imagine what Mary would do if she came home to find gnomes in her garden.

Besides setting up strong wards around the yard that would drive any gnome away, there was other work, made necessary by the arrival of spring, to be done to the grounds around the house that perhaps could be handled by magic, but no matter how carefully the spells were cast, there would have been a chance of damage to the plants. Lily and Rose were not so lazy to risk it.

They trimmed back the rose bushes that had been planted around the garden trellis for Rose's wedding, then worked on weeding the garden proper. The days were far from hot, but by early afternoon, both of them were perspiring slightly.

They had been working mostly in silence, intent upon the labour, but suddenly Rose straightened up, looking at Lily with her gloved hands on her hips, tendrils of hair that had escaped her tight braids sticking to her neck and cheeks. She looked strangely fierce and determined.

"Lily, I want to talk to you."

Bemused, Lily sat back on her heels from where she was kneeling and tilted the wide brim of her straw hat back. Her thick hair, in contrast to Rose's, was bundled up under the hat with a number of ties and pins. "All right."

Rose dropped the shears she was holding onto the grass, still looking fierce. _"What's the problem with you and James?"_

Lily blinked. She had been on guard for this kind of attack from a lot of people, but had never expected to hear it from Rose.

When Lily didn't answer, Rose continued with an aggressiveness that Lily had seen only once or twice in their entire lives. "It's ridiculous, Lily – do you have a reason why you're acting this way? If you do, it had better be a damn good one and you're hiding it awfully well. But what's the problem, Lily? What did James do to deserve the way you're treating him?"

Lily opened her mouth to say something to make Rose calm down, but when unable to find words for this purpose, what came out was something rather different, and much more accusatory than she had intended: "Did David put you up to this?"

Rose looked at her disbelievingly. "_No_, he did not! I'm James's friend too, Lily. I don't like seeing you disregard his feelings and – pretend they don't exist, while he just sits there and takes it, trying to be patient – "

"Rose!" Lily scrambled to her feet. "I can't believe –"

"_It's not right!"_ shouted Rose, and Lily was not so completely outraged to entirely miss that there was something that looked like tears in Rose's eyes. "James doesn't deserve this – "

"How –" Lily was having difficulty formulating sentences; it felt like the majority of her brain was in shock, doing nothing but trying to grasp that _Rose is yelling at me – she's yelling at me._ "How can you presume that it's that simple – like you know everything that's going on with us – it's not like I've been talking to you about it!"

"You don't have to, Lily! We _live_ with you, there's not much you two do that we don't see, and _Merlin_, Lily, what you're doing is incomprehensible – it's just so _stupid_, don't you see?" It seemed as though that in the space it took for Rose to say those last two phrases, all her anger had drained away, leaving her voice breaking and tears finally spilling over. "It's stupid because these days are so terrifying, we don't know what's going to happen to us next week – and when there's no reason for you two to be fighting – you shouldn't be, not when – when –" That was all she could manage; breaking down completely, Rose lifted her gloved hands to her face and sobbed.

Horrified, Lily moved forward and hugged her tightly. Rose put her head down on Lily's shoulder and cried. The sisters stood together for several minutes, even as Rose's shoulders stopped shaking. Never, in Lily's memory, had they ever shouted at each other before. They had disagreed, of course, but it had never been vindictive, never totally blaming the other. They held each other fiercely tight now, physically apologizing and forgiving. Then, finally, they moved apart slightly, still holding onto each other's arms and able to look into each other's face.

Rose spoke in a hoarse whisper, her voice still cracking occasionally. "Morgana, my friend at the shop – her Muggle fiancé disappeared over the weekend. She waited a couple of days, but there hasn't been any kind of letter and now she's heard rumors that there was an attack in the place he was going, last she saw him – yesterday she tried to file a report with the Ministry, but they told her almost flat-out that they were too busy with trying to take care of wizards to worry about a Muggle –" Here Rose started to cry again, and Lily held her again, feeling wretched as she remembered the wedding invitation Rose had brought home for a ceremony that had been to take place in a couple weeks.

After a moment Rose continued, speaking to the side of her shoulder as neither of them moved apart, "I'm so afraid, Lily. I'm afraid for David and _all_ of us…and there isn't anything we can do, but –" And now Rose straightened, looking back into Lily's face. "The best we can do, I think, is to make sure we're living each day so that we'll have no regrets tomorrow. Do you understand?"

Lily became aware for the first time that she was crying as well. Wiping her eyes, she nodded.


End file.
